蝉 meaning and stroke order
Cicada; continuous
How to write 蝉, stroke by stroke
14 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 蝉
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- cicada
How 蝉 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Insect.
虫 gives the meaning and 单 hints at the sound.
Radical: 虫 (insect), shared by 197 characters on this site.
How to remember 蝉
蝉 (chán) is an insect 虫 (chóng) on the left with 单 (dān) on the right giving the sound. Picture a single 单 insect 虫 singing alone in a summer tree.
蝉 means cicada and appears in words like 蝉鸣 (chán míng, the cicada's song) and the idiom 金蝉脱壳 (jīn chán tuō qiào, to escape by a clever trick, literally the golden cicada sheds its shell). Example: 夏天到处都是蝉声。(Xiàtiān dàochù dōu shì chán shēng.) In summer the sound of cicadas is everywhere.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 蝉 (chán) with 禅 (chán, Zen), which has the same sound and right side but uses 礻 instead of 虫. Also do not read it as dān just because the phonetic part is 单.
Questions about 蝉
How many strokes are in 蝉?
蝉 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 蝉 mean?
蝉 (chán) means cicada; continuous.
How do you pronounce 蝉?
蝉 is pronounced chán, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 蝉?
The radical of 蝉 is 虫, which carries the idea of "insect". Dictionaries list 蝉 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 蝉?
The traditional form of 蝉 is 蟬. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 蝉 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the everyday word for cicada in spoken Chinese?
Many people say 知了 (zhīliǎo), which imitates the insect's call. 蝉 is the standard and more written term.
Why does the definition include 'continuous'?
This sense comes from literary words like 蝉联 (chánlián), meaning to hold a title continuously, for example winning a championship again. It is not used on its own with that meaning.