案 (àn): (legal) case, incident, record

案 (àn) is a Chinese character meaning “(legal) case.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 安 (phonetic) and 木 (semantic). It ranks #518 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 案 wood. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (legal) case
  2. incident
  3. record

Etymology & Origin

案

pictophoneticwood

Decomposition: ⿱安木 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Practice writing 案 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 案

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
答案noundá ànanswer4
档案noundàng ànfile6
方案nounfāng ànplan5
图案nountú àndesign6
案例nounàn lìcase (of fraud, hepatitis, international cooperation etc)6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
案子nounàn zilong table
案件nounàn jiàncase
谋杀案móu shā ànmurder case
作案verbzuò ànto commit a crime
结案verbjié ànto conclude a case
法案nounfǎ ànbill
破案verbpò ànto solve a criminal case
凶杀案nounxiōng shā ànmurder case
罪案nounzuì àna criminal case
办案verbbàn ànto handle a (criminal) case
提案nountí ànproposal
议案nounyì ànproposal
报案verbbào ànto report a case to the authorities
修正案xiū zhèng ànamendment
命案nounmìng ànhomicide case
100
Total compounds
18
As first character
75
As last character
7
As middle character

案 appears in 100 compound words: 18 as the first character, 75 as the last, and 7 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 案 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

档dàng
0.60320,578 co-occurrences
件jiàn
0.58989,556 co-occurrences
窃qiè
0.5193,836 co-occurrences
草cǎo
0.50525,044 co-occurrences
法fǎ
0.46880,668 co-occurrences
涉shè
0.46312,210 co-occurrences
答dá
0.46112,578 co-occurrences
盗dào
0.4553,862 co-occurrences
惨cǎn
0.4522,206 co-occurrences
冤yuān
0.4482,312 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (8)

案兵束甲àn bīng shù jiǎHSK 6+

to rest weapons and loosen armor (idiom); to relax from fighting

phrase
案甲休兵àn jiǎ xiū bīngHSK 6+

to put down weapon and let soldiers rest (idiom); to relax from fighting

phrase
举案齐眉jǔ'ànqíméiHSK 6+

to have mutual respect between husband and wife

phrase
拍案而起pāi àn ér qǐHSK 4+

(idiom) to slam the table and rise to one's feet in indignation

phrase
拍案叫绝pāi'ànjiàojuéHSK 4+

to be astonished and greatly praise

phrase
拍案惊奇pāi'ànjīngqíHSK 4+

to be surprised by the excellence (of something)

phrase
桃色案件táo sè àn jiànHSK 5+

case involving sex scandal (law)

phrase
专案小组zhuān àn xiǎo zǔHSK 4+

task force

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

工人们正在砍伐病案,防止虫害蔓延。

gōng rén men zhēng zài kǎn fá bìng àn , fáng zhǐ chóng hài mán yán .

Workers are cutting down diseased trees to prevent the spread of pests.

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

业界倡上调基本免税额一成 预算案料难大派糖 吁多照顾打工仔

yè jiè chàng shàng diào jī běn miǎn shuì é yī chéng yù suàn àn liào nán dà pài táng xū duō zhào gù dǎ gōng zǐ

The industry advocates raising the basic tax allowance by 10%, and the budget is expected to be difficult to distribute sugar and call for more care for workers

三立新聞網Feb 2026

油品、建案双引擎全开 北基下步锁定绿能

yóu pǐn , jiàn àn shuāng yǐn qíng quán kāi běi jī xià bù suǒ dìng lǜ néng

The dual engines of oil products and construction projects are fully open, and the next step of the North Base is to lock in green energy

English News - RthkFeb 2026

美官员据报称若收到伊朗详细方案美方准备再与伊方举行核谈判

měi guān yuán jù bào chèn ruò shōu dào yī lǎng xiáng xì fāng àn měi fāng zhǔn bèi zài yǔ yī fāng jǔ háng hé tán pàn

U.S. officials reportedly said that if they receive a detailed plan from Iran, the United States is ready to hold nuclear negotiations with Iran again

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

从投行看大陆/VIE架构境外上市备案实务

cóng tóu háng kàn dà lù V I E jià gòu jìng wài shàng shì bèi àn shí wù

From the perspective of investment banks, the mainland/VIE structure overseas listing filing practice

東方日報Feb 2026

美高官指如伊朗48小时内提交核协议草案 料美伊周五谈判

měi gāo guān zhǐ rú yī lǎng 4 8 xiǎo shí nèi tí jiāo hé xié yì cǎo àn liào měi yī zhōu wǔ tán pàn

Senior U.S. officials said that if Iran submits a draft nuclear agreement within 48 hours, the United States and Iran are expected to negotiate on Friday

Tatoeba

哪一位法官审理此案?

Nǎ yī wèi fǎguān shěnlǐ cǐ àn?

Which judge heard the case?

Tatoeba

你曾是一宗司法案件的证人?

Nǐ céng shì yī zōng sīfǎ ànjiàn de zhèngrén?

Have you ever served as a witness in a court case?

Tatoeba

这个符号代表答案正确。

Zhège fúhào dàibiǎo dá'àn zhèngquè.

The sign means that the answer is correct.

Tatoeba

这个议案合符我们的政策内容。

Zhège yì'àn hé fú wǒmen de zhèngcè nèiróng.

This measure is in accord with our policy.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 木 (wood) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced àn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 案 (àn) mean in Chinese?
案 (àn) primarily means "(legal) case." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #518 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 案 have?
案 is written with 10 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 案?
The radical associated with 案 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.
What are the components of 案?
案 is composed of: 安 (phonetic), 木 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱安木 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 案?
Common words with 案 include: 案子 (àn zi, "long table"); 答案 (dá àn, "answer"); 案件 (àn jiàn, "case"); 档案 (dàng àn, "file"); 谋杀案 (móu shā àn, "murder case"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 案 (àn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation àn: 按 (to press, according to), 胺 ((chemistry) amine), 安 (safe, peace), 暗 (dark), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 案 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 案 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 案 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.