翁 meaning and stroke order
Old man; father, father-in-law
How to write 翁, stroke by stroke
10 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 翁
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- elderly man
- father
- father-in-law
- neck feathers of a bird (old)
How 翁 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Feather.
羽 gives the meaning and 公 hints at the sound.
Radical: 羽 (feather), shared by 26 characters on this site.
How to remember 翁
翁 puts 公 (gōng) on top of 羽 (yǔ, feather). 公 gives the sound, and 羽 points to the old meaning of a bird's neck feathers, so picture a dignified old gentleman with a fluffy feathered collar.
Today 翁 mostly appears in set words rather than alone. It is common in 富翁 (fùwēng, rich person) and in polite or literary terms for an old man. Example: 他梦想成为百万富翁。(Tā mèngxiǎng chéngwéi bǎiwàn fùwēng.) He dreams of becoming a millionaire.
Common mistake: Learners often read 翁 as gōng because of the 公 on top, but it is wēng with a first tone. Also do not confuse it with 扇 (shàn, fan), which has 羽 inside a 户 frame instead of under 公.
Common words with 翁
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
翁 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 翁
Learning 翁 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 翁
How many strokes are in 翁?
翁 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 翁 mean?
翁 (wēng) means old man; father, father-in-law. A common word with it is 富翁 (fùwēng), meaning "rich person; millionaire".
How do you pronounce 翁?
翁 is pronounced wēng, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 翁?
The radical of 翁 is 羽, which carries the idea of "feather". Dictionaries list 翁 under this radical.
Is 翁 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 翁 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I call an old man 翁 in everyday speech?
Not really. Alone it sounds literary or old-fashioned. In daily speech people say 老人 (lǎorén) or 老爷爷 (lǎo yéye), and 翁 shows up in written styles or fixed words like 渔翁 (yúwēng, old fisherman).
Why is an albatross called 信天翁?
信天翁 (xìntiānwēng) is the standard name for the albatross. Here 翁 is used for the bird as part of a fixed name, so just learn the whole word as one unit.