Chinese Character Wiki

弦

xián

string

Components
弓 meaning component

弓  Meaning component

gōng

  

bow

bow

玄 sound component

玄  Sound component

xuán

  

deep

Evolution

弦 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
弦 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
弦 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

弦  

xián

string; hypotenuse, crescent; bow string; string of musical instrument; watchspring; chord (segment of curve); hypotenuse; CL:根[gēn]

Most common words with 弦
Freq.
Word
Meaning

弦

bow string

和弦

chord (music)

心弦

heartstrings

管弦乐

orchestral music

弦乐

string music

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*[ɢ]ˤi[n]

hen

xián

string of bow or instrument


Statistics

Not found in HSK word list

Appears in 3.6681% of movies

2530th most common character in movies

2258th most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

8

Unicode

U+5F26

Shuowen

“弦，弓弦也，从弓，象絲軫之形。”


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