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

HSK 7-9

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.

HSK 7-9

他身衔将军军衔，在军中德高望重。

Tā shēn xián jiāngjūn jūnxián, zài jūn zhōng dégāo-wàngzhòng.

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.'