庵 (ān) is a Chinese character meaning “Buddhist nunnery”. It is written from 广 (wide; dotted cliff radical) and 奄 (to cover; (in 奄奄) faint, feeble), one enclosing the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “nunnery”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
广 + 奄
Enclosing structure
Structure from: 现代字形构形分析（笔画数据核验：⿸广奄，3+8=11 画）；只描述今形，不追溯古字来源
Memory aid
A simple roofed shelter (广) that covers (奄) whoever lives inside — a small hut or nunnery.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 尼姑庵ní gū ānBuddhist nunnery庵 = ān
- 庵堂ān tángBuddhist nunnery; small temple庵 = ān
Go deeper
All readings
nunnery; hut
Buddhist nunnery; small temple; thatched hut
尼姑居住、修行的寺院；也指小草屋。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 尼姑庵ní gū ānBuddhist nunnery庵 = ān
- 庵堂ān tángBuddhist nunnery; small temple庵 = ān
Sound component
奄 family
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 庵 mean?
庵 (ān) means Buddhist nunnery; small temple; thatched hut.
How do you pronounce 庵?
It is pronounced ān.
What parts is 庵 made of?
广 (wide; dotted cliff radical) and 奄 (to cover; (in 奄奄) faint, feeble), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形构形分析（笔画数据核验：⿸广奄，3+8=11 画）；只描述今形，不追溯古字来源. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 庵 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 庵?
广. 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 庵?
Common ones are 尼姑庵 and 庵堂. The reading of 庵 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.