灯 (dēng) is a Chinese character meaning “lamp”. It is written from 火 (fire) and 丁 (fourth heavenly stem; adult male), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “lamp; light”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
火 + 丁
Left–right structure
Structure from: modern-glyph-decomposition (IDS ⿰火丁; 4+2 strokes verified against hanzi-writer-data)
Memory aid
Fire (火) sitting on the single upright hook of 丁 — a flame raised on a stand is a lamp.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 台灯tái dēngdesk lamp; table lamp灯 = dēng
- 吊灯diào dēngpendant lamp; hanging light; chandelier灯 = dēng
- 灯塔dēng tǎlighthouse灯 = dēng
- 灯盏dēng zhǎnoil lamp (without a chimney)灯 = dēng
Go deeper
All readings
lamp; light
lamp; light; a device that gives out light
照明或做信号用的发光器具。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 台灯tái dēngdesk lamp; table lamp灯 = dēng
- 吊灯diào dēngpendant lamp; hanging light; chandelier灯 = dēng
- 灯塔dēng tǎlighthouse灯 = dēng
- 灯盏dēng zhǎnoil lamp (without a chimney)灯 = dēng
Sound component
丁 family rime near
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 灯 mean?
灯 (dēng) means lamp; light; a device that gives out light.
How do you pronounce 灯?
It is pronounced dēng.
What parts is 灯 made of?
火 (fire) and 丁 (fourth heavenly stem; adult male), side by side. The recorded source is: modern-glyph-decomposition (IDS ⿰火丁; 4+2 strokes verified against hanzi-writer-data). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 灯 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 灯?
火. 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 灯?
Common ones are 台灯 and 吊灯. The reading of 灯 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.