腌 meaning and stroke order
To salt, to cure; to pickle, to marinate
How to write 腌, stroke by stroke
12 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
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
Meaning of 腌
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to salt
- to pickle
- to cure (meat)
- to marinate
- variant of 醃|腌[yan1]
- used in 腌臢|腌臜[a1 za1]
- Taiwan pr. [ang1]
How 腌 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Meat ⺼ left 奄 in salt; 奄 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: ⺼ (meat), shared by 176 characters on this site.
How to remember 腌
The left side ⺼ means meat, and 奄 (yǎn) on the right gives the sound. Picture a piece of meat ⺼ left to sit in salt until it is cured.
腌 (yān) is used for salting, pickling, or marinating food, and often appears in words like 腌肉 (yānròu, cured meat) and 腌菜 (yāncài, pickled vegetables). Example: 我妈妈每年冬天都腌咸菜。(Wǒ māma měi nián dōngtiān dōu yān xiáncài.) My mom pickles vegetables every winter.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 腌 with 淹 (yān, to flood or submerge), which has the water radical 氵 and the same sound. Use 腌 with the meat radical for food and 淹 for water.
腌 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 腌
How many strokes are in 腌?
腌 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 腌 mean?
腌 (yān) means to salt, to cure; to pickle, to marinate.
How do you pronounce 腌?
腌 is pronounced yān, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 腌?
The radical of 腌 is ⺼, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 腌 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 腌?
The traditional form of 腌 is 醃. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 腌 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Does 腌 have another pronunciation?
Yes. It is read ā in the word 腌臜 (āza), which means dirty or filthy. In Taiwan this word is pronounced with ang1 instead. In everyday food words it is always yān.
What is the difference between 腌 and 卤 when talking about food?
腌 (yān) means curing or pickling food with salt, sugar, or seasoning over time, usually without cooking. 卤 (lǔ) means stewing food in a spiced braising liquid, so it involves cooking.