纹 meaning and stroke order
Line, stripe; pattern, decoration; wrinkle
How to write 纹, stroke by stroke
7 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Meaning of 纹
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- line; trace; mark; pattern; grain (of wood etc)
- to tattoo
How 纹 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Thread.
纟 gives the meaning and 文 hints at the sound.
Radical: 纟 (silk), shared by 143 characters on this site.
How to remember 纹
纹 combines 纟 (thread) with 文 (wén), which gives the sound. Picture threads woven into cloth to make lines and patterns, and you have 纹 (wén), a stripe or pattern.
纹 usually appears in compound words for lines and marks on a surface, such as 花纹 (huāwén, decorative pattern), 条纹 (tiáowén, stripe), 皱纹 (zhòuwén, wrinkle) and 指纹 (zhǐwén, fingerprint). Example: 她穿了一件条纹衬衫。(Tā chuān le yí jiàn tiáowén chènshān.) She is wearing a striped shirt.
Common mistake: Learners often write 文 alone when they mean 纹, or the reverse. 文 means writing or culture, while 纹 with the thread radical means lines and patterns, so 指纹 (fingerprint) needs 纹. The one common exception is tattoo, where both 文身 and 纹身 are seen.
Common words with 纹
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
纹 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 纹
How many strokes are in 纹?
纹 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 纹 mean?
纹 (wén) means line, stripe; pattern, decoration; wrinkle. A common word with it is 花纹 (huāwén), meaning "decorative design".
How do you pronounce 纹?
纹 is pronounced wén, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 纹?
The radical of 纹 is 纟, which carries the idea of "silk". Dictionaries list 纹 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 纹?
The traditional form of 纹 is 紋. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 纹 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 纹 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 纹 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is it 文身 or 纹身 for tattoo?
Both are used and pronounced wénshēn. Dictionaries list 文身 as the standard form and 纹身 as a variant, but 纹身 is very common in everyday writing and on shop signs.
How do you say wood grain in Chinese?
Wood grain is 木纹 (mùwén). The same pattern works for other natural lines, such as 波纹 (bōwén) for ripples on water.