鳞 meaning and stroke order
Fish scales
How to write 鳞, stroke by stroke
20 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
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
Meaning of 鳞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- scales (of fish, snakes etc)
How 鳞 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Fish.
鱼 gives the meaning and 粦 hints at the sound.
Radical: 鱼 (fish), shared by 79 characters on this site.
How to remember 鳞
On the left is 鱼 (yú, fish), telling you the meaning is about fish. On the right is 粦 (lín), which gives the sound, so picture the shiny lín of a fish catching the light.
鳞 is mostly used in words like 鳞片 (línpiàn, a scale) and 鱼鳞 (yúlín, fish scales). It also appears in set phrases such as 遍体鳞伤 (biàn tǐ lín shāng), meaning covered in wounds. Example: 这条鱼的鳞片很亮。(Zhè tiáo yú de línpiàn hěn liàng.) The scales on this fish are very shiny.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 鳞 with 磷 (lín, phosphorus) and 邻 (lín, neighbor), which have the same sound. Check the left side: 鱼 means fish scales, 石 means phosphorus.
Questions about 鳞
How many strokes are in 鳞?
鳞 is written with 20 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 鳞 mean?
鳞 (lín) means fish scales.
How do you pronounce 鳞?
鳞 is pronounced lín, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 鳞?
The radical of 鳞 is 鱼, which carries the idea of "fish". Dictionaries list 鳞 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 鳞?
The traditional form of 鳞 is 鱗. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 鳞 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
How do you say 'to scale a fish' in Chinese?
You can say 刮鱼鳞 (guā yúlín), literally 'scrape the fish scales.' 去鳞 (qù lín), 'remove the scales,' is also common in recipes.
Can 鳞 be used for things other than fish?
Yes. It covers the scales of snakes, lizards and dragons, as in 龙鳞 (lónglín, dragon scales). It can also describe things layered like scales, as in 鳞次栉比 (lín cì zhì bǐ), rows of buildings packed closely together.