婴 (yīng) is a Chinese character meaning “baby”. It is written from 贝 (shell) and 贝 (shell) and 女 (woman; female), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “baby; infant”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
贝 + 贝 + 女
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔画分组核验（现代字形拆分：上 贝[0-3]+贝[4-7]，下 女[8-10]）
Memory aid
Two shells (贝, 贝) dangle above a woman (女) — she shakes them like a rattle to make her baby laugh.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 婴儿yīng'érbaby; infant婴 = yīng
- 女婴nǚ yīngbaby girl婴 = yīng
Go deeper
All readings
baby; infant
baby; infant; newborn child
刚出生不久的孩子。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 婴儿yīng'érbaby; infant婴 = yīng
- 女婴nǚ yīngbaby girl婴 = yīng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 婴 mean?
婴 (yīng) means baby; infant; newborn child.
How do you pronounce 婴?
It is pronounced yīng.
What parts is 婴 made of?
贝 (shell) and 贝 (shell) and 女 (woman; female), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔画分组核验（现代字形拆分：上 贝[0-3]+贝[4-7]，下 女[8-10]）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 婴 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 婴?
女. 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 婴?
Common ones are 婴儿 and 女婴. The reading of 婴 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.