衔 (xián): to hold in the mouth

Meanings

1 to hold in the mouth
2 to bear (a title or rank)
3 title; rank; honorary designation

Characters

衔

xián

to hold in mouth; rank/title

Examples

燕子衔着稻草飞回巢中。

Yànzi xián zhe dàocǎo fēi huí cháo zhōng.

The swallow flew back to its nest with a piece of straw in its beak.

他身衔将军军衔，在军中德高望重。

Tā shēn xián jiāngjūn jūnxián, zài jūnzhōng dégāowàngzhòng.

He held the rank of general and was greatly respected in the military.

Tips

usage

衔 has two distinct senses: (1) physical — to hold something in the beak or mouth (birds, animals); (2) formal/classical — to bear a title, rank, or official designation (军衔 military rank, 职衔 job title). In modern Chinese, 军衔 is the standard word for military rank.

Components

radical

行 xíng

walk; conduct

行 wraps around the middle in 衔 — a rare overlay structure where the small radical sits inside the larger one. The "walking/conduct" sense links to "rank, official position" (a rank denotes one's standing in the procession).

semantic

钅 jīn

metal; gold

钅 (here the left-side metal form, sitting overlaid inside 行) depicts a horse's bit — a metal mouthpiece a horse holds between its teeth. That literal image gave 衔 its primary verb sense "hold in the mouth," extended to "carry a title."