院 (yuàn) is a Chinese character meaning “courtyard”. It is written from 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 完 (complete; whole), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “courtyard; institution”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
阝 + 完
Left–right structure
- 阝 left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑) · fù meaning
- 完 complete; whole · wán sound
Structure from: 说文解字：院，坚也。从𨸏完声。Modern IDS ⿰阝完; strokes 2+7 cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data (阝 2, 完 7, 院 9)
Memory aid
A raised mound (阝) guards a complete (完) set of buildings — together they enclose a courtyard, the 院 of a hospital or college.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 医院yī yuànhospital院 = yuànHSK 1
- 学院xué yuàncollege; academy院 = yuàn
- 妓院jì yuànbrothel院 = yuàn
- 寺院sì yuànmonastery; temple compound院 = yuàn
Go deeper
All readings
courtyard; institution
courtyard; compound; a public institution (hospital, college, court, theatre)
房屋四周围起来的空地；也指某些机关、学校和公共场所。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 医院yī yuànhospital院 = yuànHSK 1
- 学院xué yuàncollege; academy院 = yuàn
- 妓院jì yuànbrothel院 = yuàn
- 寺院sì yuànmonastery; temple compound院 = yuàn
Sound component
完 family
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 院 mean?
院 (yuàn) means courtyard; compound; a public institution (hospital, college, court, theatre).
How do you pronounce 院?
It is pronounced yuàn.
What parts is 院 made of?
阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 完 (complete; whole), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：院，坚也。从𨸏完声。Modern IDS ⿰阝完; strokes 2+7 cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data (阝 2, 完 7, 院 9). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 院 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 院?
阜. 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 院?
Common ones are 医院 and 学院. The reading of 院 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.