弦 — Chinese character
弦
xián
bow string; string instrument; hypotenuse
- Pinyin
- xián
- Radical
- 57 ⼸ (Bow)
- Strokes
- 8
- Components
- 弓 玄
- Formation
- pictophonetic — bow; meaning component 弓; sound component 玄
- Japanese
- 弦 as a kanji
Common words with 弦
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 和弦 | hé xián | (music) chord |
| 琴弦 | qín xián | string (of a stringed instrument) |
| 弦乐 (弦樂) | xián yuè | string music |
| 管弦乐 (管弦樂) | guǎn xián yuè | orchestral music |
| 心弦 | xīn xián | heartstrings |
| 弦乐器 (弦樂器) | xián yuè qì | string instrument |
| 正弦 | zhèng xián | (math.) sine |
| 扣人心弦 | kòu rén xīn xián | to excite; to thrill |
| 管弦乐队 (管弦樂隊) | guǎn xián yuè duì | orchestra |
| 上弦 | shàng xián | to wind up a watch, clockwork toy etc; to tighten the string of a bow, violin etc |
| 三弦 | sān xián | sanxian, large family of 3-stringed plucked musical instruments, with snakeskin covered wooden soundbox and long neck, used in folk music, opera and Chinese orc |
| 改弦易辙 (改弦易轍) | gǎi xián yì zhé | change of string, move out of rut (idiom); dramatic change of direction; to dance to a different tune |
English words written with 弦
弦 in the Chinese classics
Occurrences: Analects 1 · Zhuangzi 9
- Analects 17.4
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi Hsü Wu Kuei
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
Data: Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.