英 (yīng) is a Chinese character meaning “flower”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 央 (centre), one above the other, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “outstanding”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 央
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字·艸部：英，艸榮而不實者。从艸央聲
Memory aid
Grass (艹) sitting on top of the centre (央) — the one flower right in the middle of the field is the outstanding one.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 英语yīng yǔthe English language英 = yīng
- 英雄yīng xiónga hero英 = yīng
- 英俊yīng jùnhandsome; good-looking (of a man)英 = yīng
- 英哩yīng lǐmile (older written form; now usually written 英里)英 = yīng
Go deeper
All readings
outstanding
flower; outstanding; an outstanding person, a hero; (in compounds) Britain, English
花；才能出众的、出众的人；也用于「英国」「英语」等词。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 英语yīng yǔthe English language英 = yīng
- 英雄yīng xiónga hero英 = yīng
- 英俊yīng jùnhandsome; good-looking (of a man)英 = yīng
- 英哩yīng lǐmile (older written form; now usually written 英里)英 = yīng
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 英 mean?
英 (yīng) means flower; outstanding; an outstanding person, a hero; (in compounds) Britain, English.
How do you pronounce 英?
It is pronounced yīng.
What parts is 英 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 央 (centre), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字·艸部：英，艸榮而不實者。从艸央聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 英 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 英?
艹. 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 英?
Common ones are 英语 and 英雄. The reading of 英 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.