验 (yàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to examine”. It is written from 马 (horse) and 佥 (all; everyone (classical); in 俭 it carries the sound), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to test; to verify”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
马 + 佥
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分：验 = 马(馬) + 佥；Unicode U+9A8C radical 187 (馬)；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0–2 笔为马(3 画)，3–9 笔为佥(7 画)，合计 10 画；说文解字：驗，馬名。从馬僉聲。
Memory aid
马 on the left is a horse. 佥 on the right means "everyone". Before a horse is bought, everyone gathers round to look it over — to test and verify it.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 经验jīng yànexperience验 = yàn
- 实验shí yànexperiment; to experiment验 = yàn
Go deeper
All readings
to test; to verify
to examine; to test; to check; to verify; (of a prediction) to come true
察看、检查、核对；产生预期的效果，应验。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 经验jīng yànexperience验 = yàn
- 实验shí yànexperiment; to experiment验 = yàn
Origin
A phono-semantic compound: 马 (traditional 馬, horse) gives the meaning category and 佥 (traditional 僉) supplies the sound. 说文解字 glosses 驗 only as "the name of a horse"; the everyday sense "to test, to verify" is not explained by that entry.
Source: 说文解字：驗，馬名。从馬僉聲。
Sound component
佥 family
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 验 mean?
验 (yàn) means to examine; to test; to check; to verify; (of a prediction) to come true.
How do you pronounce 验?
It is pronounced yàn.
What parts is 验 made of?
马 (horse) and 佥 (all; everyone (classical); in 俭 it carries the sound), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分：验 = 马(馬) + 佥；Unicode U+9A8C radical 187 (馬)；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0–2 笔为马(3 画)，3–9 笔为佥(7 画)，合计 10 画；说文解字：驗，馬名。从馬僉聲。. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 验 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 验?
馬. 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 验?
Common ones are 经验 and 实验. The reading of 验 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.