掩 (yǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “to cover up”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 奄 (to cover; (in 奄奄) faint, feeble), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to cover; to hide”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
扌 + 奄
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 掩，斂也。从手，奄声。（此处只描述现代字形构成）
Memory aid
A hand (扌) reaching over 奄 (yǎn), which also gives the sound. Picture the hand pulling a cover over something to hide it: 掩 means to cover up or conceal.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 掩盖yǎn gàito cover up; to conceal掩 = yǎn
- 掩饰yǎn shìto gloss over; to disguise掩 = yǎn
Go deeper
All readings
to cover; to hide
to cover up; to hide; to conceal; to shut (a door)
遮盖；隐藏；关上（门）。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 掩盖yǎn gàito cover up; to conceal掩 = yǎn
- 掩饰yǎn shìto gloss over; to disguise掩 = yǎn
Sound component
奄 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 掩 mean?
掩 (yǎn) means to cover up; to hide; to conceal; to shut (a door).
How do you pronounce 掩?
It is pronounced yǎn.
What parts is 掩 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 奄 (to cover; (in 奄奄) faint, feeble), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 掩，斂也。从手，奄声。（此处只描述现代字形构成）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 掩 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 掩?
手. 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 掩?
Common ones are 掩盖 and 掩饰. The reading of 掩 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.