棱 (léng) is a Chinese character meaning “edge”. It is written from 木 (tree; wood) and 夌 (to cross over; to surpass), side by side, and takes 12 strokes.
Build the character for “edge; ridge”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
木 + 夌
Left–right structure
Structure from: Modern IDS ⿰木夌 (build-time IDS candidate); strokes 4+8 cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data (木 4, 夌 8, 棱 12)
Memory aid
Wood (木) on the left, 夌 "to cross over" on the right: run your hand across a squared wooden beam and you cross its sharp edge.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
12 strokes
In real words
- 棱角léng jiǎoedges and corners; sharpness (of character)棱 = léng
- 棱镜léng jìngprism棱 = léng
Go deeper
All readings
edge; ridge
edge; corner; ridge; arris (the line where two surfaces meet)
物体上两个平面相接的部分；条状的凸起。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 棱角léng jiǎoedges and corners; sharpness (of character)棱 = léng
- 棱镜léng jìngprism棱 = léng
Rare readings, not taught: lēng, líng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 棱 mean?
棱 (léng) means edge; corner; ridge; arris (the line where two surfaces meet).
How do you pronounce 棱?
It is pronounced léng.
What parts is 棱 made of?
木 (tree; wood) and 夌 (to cross over; to surpass), side by side. The recorded source is: Modern IDS ⿰木夌 (build-time IDS candidate); strokes 4+8 cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data (木 4, 夌 8, 棱 12). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 棱 have?
12. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 棱?
木. 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 棱?
Common ones are 棱角 and 棱镜. The reading of 棱 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.