稳 (wěn): stable

Meanings

1 stable
2 steady
3 firm

Characters

稳

wěn

stable; steady; sure

Examples

你站稳了吗？

Nǐ zhànwěn le ma?

Are you standing steady?

这把椅子很稳。

Zhè bǎ yǐzi hěn wěn.

This chair is very stable.

他开车很稳。

Tā kāichē hěn wěn.

He drives very steadily.

Tips

usage

稳 is very versatile: 稳定 (stable), 稳重 (composed/mature), 站稳 (stand firm), 拿稳 (hold steady). Internet slang: 稳了 means 'it's in the bag' or 'we've got this'.

Components

radical

禾 hé

grain; standing rice plant

Left grain radical 禾 — a stalk of rice or millet bowed by its head. Indexes 稳 in the agriculture family alongside 种, 秋, 稻, 私, 科. A field of grain standing without swaying gives the metaphor of steadiness — the plant must be rooted and balanced not to fall over.

phonetic

急 jí

anxious; urgent

Right component supplies the sound: 急 jí → wěn through Old Chinese sound shift — opaque in modern Mandarin. Note the simplified 稳 uses 急 where the traditional 穩 had 㥯 (woman + heart + craft); 1956 reform substituted 急 to streamline writing while keeping a graspable phonetic anchor.