拈 (niān): to pick up (with fingers)

Meanings

1 to pick up (with fingers)
2 to nip
3 to grasp with the fingertips
4 to fiddle with

Characters

拈

niān

to pick up with fingertips; to nip; to fiddle with

Examples

HSK 7-9

她拈起一颗花瓣，轻轻放进书中。

Tā niān qǐ yī kē huābàn, qīngqīng fàng jìn shū zhōng.

She picked up a petal between her fingers and gently placed it in the book.

HSK 7-9

他随手拈起一根筷子，开始敲打桌面。

Tā suíshǒu niān qǐ yī gēn kuàizi, kāishǐ qiāodǎ zhuōmiàn.

He casually picked up a chopstick and began tapping the table.

Tips

usage

拈 specifically implies picking something up with the thumb and one or two fingertips - a delicate, precise grip. It appears in idioms like 拈花惹草 (to flirt; to chase after women).

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left-side hand radical - the 3-stroke compressed form of 手. Indexing radical, putting 拈 in the family of fine hand-actions (拿 take, 抓 grab, 捏 pinch, 抠 pick). Carries the core meaning: 拈 names a delicate pinching motion done with two or three fingers, the gesture of picking up something small and dainty.

phonetic

占 zhān

divine; occupy

Right 占 supplies the sound - zhān shifting to niān via the regular n-/zh- alternation visible across the same series (粘 / nián, 黏). The 'divine / occupy' meaning of 占 doesn't enter; it is a pure sound-tag. 拈 survives in 拈花一笑 'plucking the flower and smiling,' a famous Chan Buddhist scene.