yǎn
adverb #55,568

Meanings

  1. 1 suddenly; abruptly
  2. 2 to cover; to encompass

Examples

Shòushāng de lù dǎo zài dìshàng, yǎnyǎnyīxī.
The injured deer lay on the ground, barely breathing.
Gǔwén lǐ yǎn yǒu tiānxià zhǐ jùyǒu zhěnggè tiānxià.
In classical texts "yǎn yǒu tiānxià" means to possess all under heaven.

Tips

usage
is a literary word meaning suddenly, or to cover/encompass. The everyday survival is 奄奄一息 (barely breathing, at one's last gasp). It also has an archaic reading used as a variant for a eunuch.

Components

radical
big; to spread wide
Top (big, with arms outstretched) is the indexing radical and suggests spreading wide to cover over, which matches the "to encompass" sense of .
phonetic
diàn
lightning (here phonetic)
The lower part, regularized to look like in the modern form, serves as the phonetic-bearing element. Its quick, flashing image also fits the "suddenly" meaning.

Stroke Order

yǎn