鴈 meaning and stroke order
Wild goose
How to write 鴈, stroke by stroke
15 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 鴈
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- variant of 雁[yan4]
How 鴈 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Bird.
鳥 gives the meaning and 亻 hints at the sound.
Radical: 鳥 (bird), shared by 78 characters on this site.
How to remember 鴈
Under the cliff 厂, a person 亻 stands beside a bird 鳥, watching wild geese fly past. The bird part 鳥 tells you the meaning is a kind of bird, the wild goose.
鴈 is a variant form of 雁 (yàn), and modern Chinese almost always writes 雁. You may see 鴈 in older texts, classical poetry, or names. Example: 鴻鴈南飛 (hóng yàn nán fēi), the wild geese fly south.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 鴈 with 雁. They mean the same thing, but 雁 uses 隹 (a short-tailed bird) where 鴈 uses 鳥. Also do not mix 雁 (yàn) up with 燕 (yàn, swallow), which has the same sound but is a different bird.
Questions about 鴈
How many strokes are in 鴈?
鴈 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 鴈 mean?
鴈 (yàn) means wild goose.
How do you pronounce 鴈?
鴈 is pronounced yàn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 鴈?
The radical of 鴈 is 鳥, which carries the idea of "bird". Dictionaries list 鴈 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 鴈?
鴈 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 雁, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Should I use 鴈 or 雁 when I write?
Use 雁 in everyday writing. 鴈 is an older variant, so it is good to recognize but not needed for daily use.
What common words use the wild goose character?
The common words are 大雁 (dàyàn), wild goose, and 鴻雁 (hóngyàn), large wild geese. 鴻雁 is often used in poetry as a symbol of letters or messages from far away.