袒 meaning and stroke order
To strip, to bare
How to write 袒, 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 袒
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to bare
- old variant of 袒[tan3]
How 袒 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Clothes.
衤 gives the meaning and 旦 hints at the sound.
Radical: 衤 (cloth), shared by 72 characters on this site.
How to remember 袒
The clothing radical 衤 sits beside 旦 (dàn), the sun rising over the horizon. Picture clothes coming off so skin is exposed like the sun appearing at dawn, and remember that 旦 also gives the sound tǎn.
Today 袒 rarely appears alone and mostly shows up in fixed words. 偏袒 (piāntǎn) and 袒护 (tǎnhù) both mean unfairly taking someone's side. Example: 老师不应该偏袒任何学生。(Lǎoshī bù yīnggāi piāntǎn rènhé xuésheng.) Teachers should not favor any student.
Common mistake: Learners often write the left side as 礻 (the spirit radical, one dot) instead of 衤 (the clothing radical, two dots). 袒 is about clothing, so it needs the extra dot. Also keep the third tone tǎn. Do not borrow the fourth tone of 旦 (dàn).
Common words with 袒
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 偏袒 | piāntǎn | to bare one shoulder; (fig.) to side with | |
| 袒护 | tǎnhù | to shield (a miscreant) from punishment, criticism etc; to take sb's side |
Questions about 袒
How many strokes are in 袒?
袒 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 袒 mean?
袒 (tǎn) means to strip, to bare. A common word with it is 偏袒 (piāntǎn), meaning "to bare one shoulder; (fig.) to side with".
How do you pronounce 袒?
袒 is pronounced tǎn, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 袒?
The radical of 袒 is 衤, which carries the idea of "cloth". Dictionaries list 袒 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 袒?
The traditional form of 袒 is 襢. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 袒 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 偏袒 and 袒护?
偏袒 (piāntǎn) means being biased toward one side in a dispute. 袒护 (tǎnhù) goes further and means actively shielding someone who did wrong from blame or punishment.
Why does 偏袒 mean to take sides if 袒 means to bare?
The literal sense of 偏袒 is baring one shoulder. The dictionary lists the figurative meaning as siding with someone, and that figurative use is how the word is normally understood today.