安 (ān) is a Chinese character meaning “peaceful”. It is written from 宀 (roof; house) and 女 (woman; female), one above the other, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “safe; at peace”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
宀 + 女
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字：安，静也。从女在宀下
Memory aid
A woman (女) with a roof (宀) over her — settled, indoors, out of danger. Both parts carry meaning here; neither one is there for its sound.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 安全ān quánsafe; safety安 = ānHSK 3
- 平安píng ānsafe and sound安 = ān
Go deeper
All readings
safe; at peace
peaceful; quiet; safe; secure; to settle
没有危险；平静稳定。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 安全ān quánsafe; safety安 = ānHSK 3
- 平安píng ānsafe and sound安 = ān
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 安 mean?
安 (ān) means peaceful; quiet; safe; secure; to settle.
How do you pronounce 安?
It is pronounced ān.
What parts is 安 made of?
宀 (roof; house) and 女 (woman; female), one above the other. This breakdown was checked by a human (source: 说文解字：安，静也。从女在宀下). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 安 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 安?
宀. 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 安?
Common ones are 安全 and 平安. The reading of 安 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.