银 (yín) is a Chinese character meaning “silver (metal)”. It is written from 钅 (metal radical (left-side form of 金)) and 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn"), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “silver”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
钅 + 艮
Left–right structure
- 钅 metal radical (left-side form of 金) · jīn meaning
- 艮 gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn" · gèn sound
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：钅 5 画 + 艮 6 画 = 11 画）
Memory aid
A metal (钅) that stubbornly (艮) keeps its bright shine: silver. This is a memory aid built from the real parts 钅 and 艮.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 银行yín hángbank (financial institution)银 = yín
- 银色yín sèsilver (colour)银 = yín
Go deeper
All readings
silver
silver (metal); silver-coloured; money; relating to banks or currency
一种白色有光泽的贵金属；也指像银的颜色，或与货币、银行有关的事物。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 银行yín hángbank (financial institution)银 = yín
- 银色yín sèsilver (colour)银 = yín
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 银 mean?
银 (yín) means silver (metal); silver-coloured; money; relating to banks or currency.
How do you pronounce 银?
It is pronounced yín.
What parts is 银 made of?
钅 (metal radical (left-side form of 金)) and 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn"), side by side. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：钅 5 画 + 艮 6 画 = 11 画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 银 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 银?
钅. 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 银?
Common ones are 银行 and 银色. The reading of 银 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.