yàn
verb HSK 7-9 #7,822

Meanings

  1. 1 to examine; to test; to check
  2. 2 to verify; to prove
  3. 3 experience

Examples

Qù yīyuàn zuò gè jiǎnyàn.
Go to the hospital for a checkup.
Zhè shì yí cì hěn hǎode tǐyàn.
This was a great experience.
Tā yǒu fēngfù de jīngyàn.
He has rich experience.

Tips

usage
is used in: 经验 (experience), 体验 (experience firsthand), 实验 (experiment), 检验 (inspect/test), 考验 (test/trial), 验证 (verify). 经验 and 体验 are everyday words.

Components

radical
horse (radical)
Left horse radical — the indexing radical, anchoring the etymology in horse-checking. Inspectors traditionally examined horses for soundness, branding, and pedigree before sale or military levy; that act of close scrutiny gave its modern senses of testing, verifying, and proving. Same radical powers , , .
phonetic
qiān
all together (here phonetic)
Right carries the sound, with regular q→y drift from medieval qiān to modern yàn. The same phonetic powers a tight family: to inspect, dangerous (testing one's nerve), to pick up, sword — all share the senses of probing or selecting one from many.

Stroke Order

yàn