萦 meaning and stroke order
To coil, to entangle, to entwine
How to write 萦, stroke by stroke
11 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
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- 11
Meaning of 萦
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) to wind around
How 萦 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Thread.
糸 gives the meaning.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 萦
Picture grass 艹 on top, a cover 冖 in the middle, and thread 糸 at the bottom. The thread 糸 is the meaning part, so think of thread winding around and around under a cover of grass.
萦 (yíng) is literary and almost never used alone in speech. You will mostly meet it in 萦绕 (yíngrào), used for thoughts, sounds, or feelings that linger. Example: 那首歌一直萦绕在我心头。(Nà shǒu gē yìzhí yíngrào zài wǒ xīntóu.) That song keeps lingering in my mind.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 萦 with 荧 (yíng, glimmer) and 莹 (yíng, lustrous jade), which share the same top and the same sound. Remember that only 萦 has 糸 (thread) at the bottom, matching its meaning of winding.
Common words with 萦
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 萦绕 | yíngrào | to linger on; to hover |
萦 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 萦
How many strokes are in 萦?
萦 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 萦 mean?
萦 (yíng) means to coil, to entangle, to entwine. A common word with it is 萦绕 (yíngrào), meaning "to linger on; to hover".
How do you pronounce 萦?
萦 is pronounced yíng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 萦?
The radical of 萦 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 萦 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 萦?
The traditional form of 萦 is 縈. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 萦 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What does 魂牵梦萦 mean?
魂牵梦萦 (hún qiān mèng yíng) is an idiom meaning to long for something so much that it haunts your soul and dreams. It is often used for missing a hometown or a loved one.
Can 萦绕 be used for physical things?
Yes, it can describe smoke, mist, or sound hovering around a place, as in 云雾萦绕 (yúnwù yíngrào), clouds and mist swirling around. It is still a written, somewhat poetic word.