翁 (wēng) is a Chinese character meaning “old man”. It is written from 公 (public; common; fair) and 羽 (feather; plume), one above the other, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “old man”
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Structure
公 + 羽
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字（翁，頸毛也。从羽，公聲）
Memory aid
An old gentleman (公) with feathery (羽) white whiskers — 翁 is an old man. 公 also hints at the sound.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 老翁lǎowēngold man; elderly gentleman翁 = wēng
- 富翁fùwēngrich man; wealthy person翁 = wēng
Go deeper
All readings
old man
old man; elderly gentleman; father-in-law (literary)
年老的男子；也指父亲或丈夫的父亲（书面）。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 老翁lǎowēngold man; elderly gentleman翁 = wēng
- 富翁fùwēngrich man; wealthy person翁 = wēng
Sound component
公 family
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 翁 mean?
翁 (wēng) means old man; elderly gentleman; father-in-law (literary).
How do you pronounce 翁?
It is pronounced wēng.
What parts is 翁 made of?
公 (public; common; fair) and 羽 (feather; plume), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字（翁，頸毛也。从羽，公聲）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 翁 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 翁?
羽. 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 翁?
Common ones are 老翁 and 富翁. The reading of 翁 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.