寝

寢
qǐn
noun #28,851

Meanings

  1. 1 bedroom
  2. 2 to lie down to rest
  3. 3 imperial tomb

Examples

HSK 6
Tā zài shūfáng dúshū zhì shēnyè, fāng cái rù qǐn.
He read in the study until late at night before finally going to bed.
HSK 7-9
Huáng líng zhōng yǒu zhuānmén gōngfèng língwèi de qǐn diàn.
Imperial tombs contain a dedicated hall for enshrining the spirit tablet.

Tips

register
寝 is a literary/classical character. In everyday speech, 卧室 or 睡觉 are used instead. 寝 appears in formal compounds: 寝室 (dormitory), 就寝 (to retire for the night).

Components

radical
宀 mián
roof
Roof radical on top fixes the location: 寝 happens indoors, specifically in a sleeping chamber. The roof anchors a whole house-and-room family - 家 home, 室 room, 安 peace (woman under roof), 宿 lodge.
semantic
丬 qiáng
bed (vertical form)
Left interior is a stylised bed seen sideways - the right half of 床's etymological 爿. Placed under a roof and beside a sweeping-hand action, it gives the literal scene: a bed inside the bedchamber. Same component anchors 床 bed itself.
semantic
彐 jì
snout / hand-with-broom (here: hand)
Upper-right interior is a stylised hand. Together with 冖 and 又 below, the right half of 寝 pictures a person sweeping or tidying the bedchamber - the cleaning-up that precedes lying down to rest.
semantic
冖 mì
cover
Middle-right cover stroke sits between hand and another hand, suggesting the bedclothes or canopy being smoothed flat. The cover radical also appears in 写, 军 - anything tucked under something.
semantic
又 yòu
again; right hand
Lower-right shows a second hand - the right-hand pictogram. The redoubled hand-imagery in 寝 underscores the physical action of preparing the bed before sleep, distinguishing 寝 (formal, classical 'retire to bed') from plain 睡 'sleep'.

Stroke Order

寝 qǐn