眠 (mián) is a Chinese character meaning “to sleep”. It is written from 目 (eye) and 民 (the people; civilian), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to sleep”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
目 + 民
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿰目民；笔画核验 目5 + 民5 = 10）
Memory aid
The eyes (目) of all the people (民) close at night — everyone is asleep.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 睡眠shuì miánsleep眠 = mián
- 失眠shī miánto suffer from insomnia; insomnia眠 = mián
Go deeper
All readings
to sleep
to sleep; sleep; (of animals) to hibernate
睡觉；也指某些动物长时间不吃不动的休眠状态。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 睡眠shuì miánsleep眠 = mián
- 失眠shī miánto suffer from insomnia; insomnia眠 = mián
Sound component
民 family rime near
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 眠 mean?
眠 (mián) means to sleep; sleep; (of animals) to hibernate.
How do you pronounce 眠?
It is pronounced mián.
What parts is 眠 made of?
目 (eye) and 民 (the people; civilian), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿰目民；笔画核验 目5 + 民5 = 10）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 眠 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 眠?
目. 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 眠?
Common ones are 睡眠 and 失眠. The reading of 眠 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.