鸯 meaning and stroke order
Female mandarin duck (Aix galericulata)
How to write 鸯, 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 鸯
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- used in 鴛鴦|鸳鸯[yuan1 yang1]
How 鸯 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Bird.
鸟 gives the meaning and 央 hints at the sound.
Radical: 鸟 (bird), shared by 72 characters on this site.
How to remember 鸯
Picture a bird 鸟 (niǎo) sitting in the center 央 (yāng) of a pond. The top part 央 also gives the sound yāng, and the bird below tells you it is a kind of bird.
鸯 almost never appears alone. It is used in the word 鸳鸯 (yuānyāng), the mandarin duck, which is also a common image for a loving couple. Example: 他们像一对鸳鸯。(Tāmen xiàng yí duì yuānyāng.) They are like a pair of mandarin ducks, a devoted couple.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up the order and write 鸯鸳. The correct word is 鸳鸯 (yuānyāng), with 鸳 first. Also keep the tone first tone, yāng, the same as 央, not yáng like 羊.
Common words with 鸯
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 鸳鸯 | yuānyāng | (bird species of China) mandarin duck (Aix galericulata); (fig.) affectionate couple; happ |
Questions about 鸯
How many strokes are in 鸯?
鸯 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 鸯 mean?
鸯 (yāng) means female mandarin duck (Aix galericulata). A common word with it is 鸳鸯 (yuānyāng), meaning "(bird species of China) mandarin duck (Aix galericulata); (fig.) affectionate couple; happ".
How do you pronounce 鸯?
鸯 is pronounced yāng, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 鸯?
The radical of 鸯 is 鸟, which carries the idea of "bird". Dictionaries list 鸯 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 鸯?
The traditional form of 鸯 is 鴦. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 鸯 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Does 鸯 mean only the female mandarin duck?
Traditionally 鸳 was the male and 鸯 the female. In modern Chinese, people simply say 鸳鸯 for the bird or the pair and rarely separate the two.
What else does 鸳鸯 mean besides the bird?
It is used for things that come in a matched pair. For example, 鸳鸯锅 (yuānyāng guō) is a hot pot split into two halves, often one spicy and one mild.