仙 (xiān) is a Chinese character meaning “an immortal”. It is written from 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 山 (mountain), side by side, and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “an immortal — a person who lives in the mountains”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亻 + 山
Left–right structure
Structure from: ids-decomposition (现代字形拆分，已按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验 2+3=5)
Memory aid
A person (亻) who has gone up into the mountains (山) and never came back down — that is an immortal.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 神仙shén xiānimmortal; celestial being仙 = xiān
- 仙女xiān nǚfairy; female immortal仙 = xiān
Go deeper
All readings
immortal
an immortal; a celestial being; fairy; (of a place or manner) otherworldly
神话传说中长生不老、有法力的人；也用来形容超凡脱俗。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 神仙shén xiānimmortal; celestial being仙 = xiān
- 仙女xiān nǚfairy; female immortal仙 = xiān
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 仙 mean?
仙 (xiān) means an immortal; a celestial being; fairy; (of a place or manner) otherworldly.
How do you pronounce 仙?
It is pronounced xiān.
What parts is 仙 made of?
亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 山 (mountain), side by side. The recorded source is: ids-decomposition (现代字形拆分，已按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验 2+3=5). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 仙 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 仙?
人. 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 仙?
Common ones are 神仙 and 仙女. The reading of 仙 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.