键 meaning in English
key (on a piano or computer keyboard); button (on a mouse or other device)
Meaning of 键
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- key (on a piano or computer keyboard)
- button (on a mouse or other device)
- chemical bond
- linchpin
How to use 键
键 means a key or button you press, and it appears mostly in compounds like 键盘 (jiànpán, keyboard) and 按键 (ànjiàn, button). It is also the 键 in 关键 (guānjiàn), meaning the crucial point. Example: 请按回车键。(Qǐng àn huíchē jiàn.) Please press the Enter key.
键 is made of 钅 (metal) on the left and 建 (jiàn, to build) on the right, which also gives the sound. Picture small metal pieces built into a row, like the keys on a keyboard.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 键 with 健 (jiàn, healthy), as in 健康 (jiànkāng). They share the same sound and right side, so remember that 键 has the metal radical 钅 because keys and buttons are hardware.
键 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
键 jiàn · key · 13 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 键.
Questions about 键
What does 键 mean?
键 (jiàn) means "key (on a piano or computer keyboard); button (on a mouse or other device)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 键?
键 is made of 1 character: 键 (13 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 键 an HSK word?
Yes. 键 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 键 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 键 is written 鍵.
Is 键 the same as a key for a door?
No. A door key is 钥匙 (yàoshi). 键 only means a key or button that you press, like on a keyboard, piano, or phone.
How do you say specific keyboard keys in Chinese?
Add 键 after the key name. For example, 空格键 (kònggé jiàn) is the space bar, 回车键 (huíchē jiàn) is Enter, and 删除键 (shānchú jiàn) is Delete.