兼 (jiān) is a Chinese character meaning “double”. It is written from 䒑 (two short strokes above a horizontal line) and 彐 (snout radical; a three-stroke block closed on the right) and ㇑ (vertical stroke) and ㇑ (vertical stroke) and 八 (eight), and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “double; simultaneously”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
䒑 + 彐 + ㇑ + ㇑ + 八
Overlapping structure
- 䒑 two short strokes above a horizontal line unknown
- 彐 snout radical; a three-stroke block closed on the right · jì unknown
- ㇑ vertical stroke unknown
- ㇑ vertical stroke unknown
- 八 eight · bā unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+517C; modern glyph decomposition checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 1-3 䒑, strokes 4-6 彐 shape with a long middle 横, strokes 7-8 two 竖 ㇑ crossing it, strokes 9-10 八)
Memory aid
Two vertical stalks (㇑ ㇑) gripped by one hand (彐), with a lid (䒑) on top and two legs (八) below: one hand holding two things at once — that is 兼.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 兼职jiān zhípart-time job; to hold a second job兼 = jiān
- 兼顾jiān gùto give consideration to both; to take care of two things at once兼 = jiān
Go deeper
All readings
double; simultaneously
double; twice; to hold two or more (jobs, roles) at the same time; simultaneously
加倍的；同时具有或涉及几种事物（如「兼职」「兼顾」）。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 兼职jiān zhípart-time job; to hold a second job兼 = jiān
- 兼顾jiān gùto give consideration to both; to take care of two things at once兼 = jiān
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 兼 mean?
兼 (jiān) means double; twice; to hold two or more (jobs, roles) at the same time; simultaneously.
How do you pronounce 兼?
It is pronounced jiān.
What parts is 兼 made of?
䒑 (two short strokes above a horizontal line) and 彐 (snout radical; a three-stroke block closed on the right) and ㇑ (vertical stroke) and ㇑ (vertical stroke) and 八 (eight). The recorded source is: Unicode U+517C; modern glyph decomposition checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 1-3 䒑, strokes 4-6 彐 shape with a long middle 横, strokes 7-8 two 竖 ㇑ crossing it, strokes 9-10 八). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 兼 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 兼?
八. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 兼?
Common ones are 兼职 and 兼顾. The reading of 兼 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.