茜

qiàn
noun #6,097

Meanings

  1. 1 madder (plant)
  2. 2 dark red

Examples

HSK 2
Tā chuān le yí jiàn qiànhóngsè de yīfu.
She was dressed in madder red.
HSK 6
Qiàncǎo kěyǐ yònglái rǎn bù.
Madder can be used to dye cloth.

Tips

usage
When used as a plant name, read as qiàn. When used in names (especially transliterations), often read as xī, as in 茜茜公主 (Princess Sissi).

Components

radical
艹 cǎo
grass; plant (radical form)
Top grass radical - the indexing radical. Marks 茜 as a plant: madder, a climbing herb whose roots yield a deep red dye. The grass radical reliably anchors the entire botanical category (花, 草, 茶, 药, 苗), so the moment you see 艹 you know to expect a plant name.
phonetic
西 xī
west (here phonetic)
Bottom 西 - supplies the sound. The dual reading is regular: classical qiàn for the dye-plant (an old phonetic correspondence) and modern xī when used in names like 茜茜 (Sissi), where the more common 西 reading takes over.

Stroke Order

茜 qiàn