眼 (yǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “eye”. It is written from 目 (eye) and 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn"), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “eye”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
目 + 艮
Left–right structure
- 目 eye · mù meaning
- 艮 gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn" · gèn sound
Structure from: 说文解字: 眼，目也。从目艮声
Memory aid
An eye (目) on the left, and 艮 (gèn, "stubborn") on the right: a stubborn stare that will not look away — that is an eye at work.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 眼睛yǎn jingeye; eyes眼 = yǎn
- 眼镜yǎn jìngglasses; spectacles眼 = yǎn
- 眼泪yǎn lèitears眼 = yǎn
- 卯眼mǎo yǎnmortise (the hole a tenon fits into)眼 = yǎnspoken asmáo yǎn
- 晃眼huǎng yǎndazzling; to dazzle the eyes眼 = yǎnspoken ashuáng yǎn
- 眨眼zhǎ yǎnto blink; in the blink of an eye眼 = yǎnspoken aszhá yǎn
- 眯眼mī yǎnto squint; to narrow one's eyes眼 = yǎn
- 眼眶yǎn kuàngeye socket; rim of the eye眼 = yǎn
- 眼镜蛇yǎn jìng shécobra眼 = yǎn
- 睁眼zhēng yǎnto open one’s eyes眼 = yǎn
Go deeper
All readings
eye
eye; a small hole or opening; the key point
眼睛；也指小孔、窟窿或事物的关键之处。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 眼睛yǎn jingeye; eyes眼 = yǎn
- 眼镜yǎn jìngglasses; spectacles眼 = yǎn
- 眼泪yǎn lèitears眼 = yǎn
- 卯眼mǎo yǎnmortise (the hole a tenon fits into)眼 = yǎnspoken asmáo yǎn
- 晃眼huǎng yǎndazzling; to dazzle the eyes眼 = yǎnspoken ashuáng yǎn
- 眨眼zhǎ yǎnto blink; in the blink of an eye眼 = yǎnspoken aszhá yǎn
- 眯眼mī yǎnto squint; to narrow one's eyes眼 = yǎn
- 眼眶yǎn kuàngeye socket; rim of the eye眼 = yǎn
- 眼镜蛇yǎn jìng shécobra眼 = yǎn
- 睁眼zhēng yǎnto open one’s eyes眼 = yǎn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 眼 mean?
眼 (yǎn) means eye; a small hole or opening; the key point.
How do you pronounce 眼?
It is pronounced yǎn.
What parts is 眼 made of?
目 (eye) and 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn"), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 眼，目也。从目艮声. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 眼 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 眼?
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 眼?
Common ones are 眼睛, 眼镜, 眼泪. The reading of 眼 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.