qiàn
noun #6,097

Meanings

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

Examples

Qiàn cǎo kěyǐ yònglái rǎn bù.
Madder can be used to dye cloth.
Tā de míngzì jiào Xī xī.
Her name is Xixi.

Tips

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

Components

radical
cǎo
grass; plant (radical form)
Top grass radical — the indexing radical. Marks as a plant: madder, a climbing herb whose roots yield a deep red dye. The grass radical reliably anchors the entire botanical category (, , , , ), so the moment you see you know to expect a plant name.
phonetic
西
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 (Sissi), where the more common 西 reading takes over.

Stroke Order

qiàn