麟 meaning and stroke order
Female unicorn
How to write 麟, stroke by stroke
23 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
- 21
- 22
- 23
Meaning of 麟
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- see 麒麟[qi2 lin2]
- variant of 麟[lin2]
How 麟 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Deer.
鹿 gives the meaning and 粦 hints at the sound.
Radical: 鹿 (deer), shared by 12 characters on this site.
How to remember 麟
On the left is 鹿 (lù, deer), which tells you the meaning: a deer-like creature. On the right is 粦 (lín), which gives the sound, so picture a magical deer called lín.
麟 almost never appears alone in modern Chinese. You mostly see it in 麒麟 (qílín), the mythical creature often translated as a Chinese unicorn, and in names. Example: 门口有两只石麒麟。(Ménkǒu yǒu liǎng zhī shí qílín.) There are two stone qilin at the entrance.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 麟 with 鳞 (lín, fish scale) and 磷 (lín, phosphorus), which share the same phonetic 粦 and the same sound. Check the left side: 鹿 for the creature, 鱼 for scales, 石 for phosphorus.
Common words with 麟
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 麒麟 | qílín | (Chinese mythology) qilin; (old) giraffe |
Questions about 麟
How many strokes are in 麟?
麟 is written with 23 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 麟 mean?
麟 (lín) means female unicorn. A common word with it is 麒麟 (qílín), meaning "(Chinese mythology) qilin; (old) giraffe".
How do you pronounce 麟?
麟 is pronounced lín, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 麟?
The radical of 麟 is 鹿, which carries the idea of "deer". Dictionaries list 麟 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 麟?
The traditional form of 麟 is 麐. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 麟 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 麒 and 麟?
In old texts 麒 was described as the male and 麟 as the female of the creature. Today people simply say 麒麟 (qílín) as one word for the animal and rarely separate the two.
Why is 麟 common in Chinese names?
The qilin is a symbol of good fortune and talented children, so 麟 appears in given names, especially for boys. A related idiom is 凤毛麟角 (fèng máo lín jiǎo), meaning something extremely rare and precious.