TraceHanzi

翩 meaning and stroke order

piān

To fly, to flutter

15 strokesRadical 羽
Strokes15
Pinyinpiān
ToneTone 1
Frequency#3,522
Printable worksheet

How to write 翩, stroke by stroke

15 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 翩

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

piānfirst tone (high and level)
  1. to fly fast

How 翩 is built

Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wings.

biǎnflat+yǔfeather

羽 gives the meaning and 扁 hints at the sound.

Radical: 羽 (feather), shared by 26 characters on this site.

How to remember 翩

翩 combines 扁 (biǎn), which gives the sound, with 羽 (yǔ, feathers or wings), which gives the meaning. Picture flat, light wings fluttering quickly through the air.

翩 is almost never used alone. It usually appears doubled as 翩翩, describing light, graceful movement like a butterfly or a dancer. Example: 蝴蝶在花间翩翩起舞。(Húdié zài huā jiān piānpiān qǐwǔ.) Butterflies dance lightly among the flowers.

Common mistake: Learners often read 翩 as biǎn because of the phonetic part 扁. The correct reading is first tone piān, the same as 篇 (piān) and 偏 (piān).

Common words with 翩

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
翩翩起舞piānpiānqǐwǔ(to start) dancing lightly and gracefully

翩 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

枫fēng树shù美měi丽lì的de红hóng叶yè从cóng枝zhī头tóu飘piāo落luò，在zài风fēng中zhōng翩piān翩piān起qǐ舞wǔ。
The beautiful red leaves of the maple become detached from the branches and are dancing in the wind.

Questions about 翩

How many strokes are in 翩?

翩 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 翩 mean?

翩 (piān) means to fly, to flutter. A common word with it is 翩翩起舞 (piānpiānqǐwǔ), meaning "(to start) dancing lightly and gracefully".

How do you pronounce 翩?

翩 is pronounced piān, in the first tone (high and level).

What is the radical of 翩?

The radical of 翩 is 羽, which carries the idea of "feather". Dictionaries list 翩 under this radical.

What does 风度翩翩 mean?

风度翩翩 (fēngdù piānpiān) describes someone, usually a man, who has an elegant and graceful manner. It is a common compliment in written and polite speech.

Is 翩 used in everyday spoken Chinese?

Not much on its own. You will mostly meet it in fixed literary phrases like 翩翩起舞 and 风度翩翩, which are common in writing, songs and descriptions.