编 (biān): to edit, to compile

编 (biān) is a Chinese character meaning “to edit, to compile.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 纟 (semantic) and 扁 (phonetic). It ranks #858 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 编 thread. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 系 (xì, to connect), 累 (lèi, tired), 绍 (shào, to continue).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to edit, to compile

Etymology & Origin

编

pictophoneticthread

Decomposition: ⿰纟扁 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 编

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
编辑verb/nounbiān jíto edit6
改编verbgǎi biānto adapt6
编写verbbiān xiěto compile6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
编排verbbiān páito arrange
编剧verbbiān jùto write a play
编造verbbiān zàoto compile
编号nounbiān hàoto number
主编nounzhǔ biāneditor in chief
编码verbbiān mǎto code
编程nounbiān chéng(computing) to program
编织verbbiān zhīto weave
胡编verbhú biānto make things up
在编verbzài biān(of personnel or positions) having permanent status under China's official staffing system 編制|编制, with fu...
编队verbbiān duìto form into columns
总编zǒng biānchief editor (of newspaper)
编制verbbiān zhìto establish (a unit or department)
编成verbbiān chéngto organize
邮编nounyóu biānpostal code
100
Total compounds
49
As first character
32
As last character
19
As middle character

编 appears in 100 compound words: 49 as the first character, 32 as the last, and 19 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 编 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

邮yóu
0.77678,456 co-occurrences
码mǎ
0.75794,810 co-occurrences
辑jí
0.64845,229 co-occurrences
号hào
0.59680,208 co-occurrences
剧jù
0.57338,668 co-occurrences
译yì
0.50010,816 co-occurrences
写xiě
0.49514,940 co-occurrences
为wéi
0.494108,978 co-occurrences
政zhèng
0.49075,266 co-occurrences
改gǎi
0.48445,020 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

胡编乱造húbiānluànzàoHSK 6+

to fabricate (stories, etc.); to cook up

phrase
汇编语言huì biān yǔ yánHSK 6+

assembly language

phrase
韦编三绝wéibiānsānjué

to study diligently

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

编辑部正在整理今年的文章,准备出版合集。

Biānjí bù zhèngzài zhěnglǐ jīnnián de wénzhāng, zhǔnbèi chūbǎn héjí.

The editorial department is organizing this year's articles, preparing to publish a collection.

NewsFeb 2026

“氛围编程”命名人卡帕西:智能体会干活之后,编程...

fēn wéi biān chéng mìng míng rén kǎ pà xī zhì néng tǐ huì gān huó zhī hòu , biān chéng . . .

"Atmosphere Programming" Namer Kapathi: After the intelligent experience works, programming...

NewsFeb 2026

...?在台韩人A9、A13分不清 网揭信义区编号真相

. . . ? zài tái hán rén fēn bù qīng wǎng jiē xìn yì qū biān hào zhēn xiāng

...? In Taiwan, Koreans A9 and A13 are indistinguishable, and the truth about the numbering of Xinyi District is revealed on the Internet

NewsFeb 2026

军营观察丨“水下编辑部”的故事

jūn yíng guàn chá 丨 shuǐ xià biān jí bù de gù shì

Barracks Observation丨The story of the "Underwater Editorial Department"

NewsFeb 2026

...军购条例付委 国民党:一定支持但不能浮滥编列

. . . jūn gòu tiáo lì fù wěi guó mín dǎng yī dìng zhī chí dàn bù néng fú làn biān liè

... The Kuomintang of the Military Procurement Regulations to the Committee: We must support but not exaggerate the compilation

NewsFeb 2026

阿里云编程套餐月费最低7.9元

ā lǐ yún biān chéng tào cān yuè fèi zuì dī . yuán

Alibaba Cloud Programming Package starting at just ¥7.90 per month

Tatoeba

汤姆把胡子编成了辫子。

Tāngmǔ bǎ húzi biānchéng le biànzi.

Tom has braided his beard.

Tatoeba

我们应该对人使用基因编辑吗?

Wǒmen yīnggāi duì rén shǐyòng jīyīn biānjí ma?

Should we use genetic engineering on people?

Tatoeba

你想让我帮你编辫子吗?

Nǐ xiǎng ràng wǒ bāng nǐ biān biànzi ma?

Would you like me to braid your hair?

Tatoeba

萨米把头发编成了辫子。

Sà mǐ bǎtóu fà biānchéng le biànzi.

Sami braided his hair.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 纟 (thread) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced biān

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 编 (biān) mean in Chinese?
编 (biān) primarily means "to edit, to compile." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #858 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 编 and 偏?
编 (biān) and 偏 (piān) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 纟 vs 亻 (same 扁 component).
How many strokes does 编 have?
编 is written with 12 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 编?
The radical associated with 编 is 纟 (silk). This radical appears in many characters related to silk.
What are the components of 编?
编 is composed of: 纟 (semantic), 扁 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰纟扁 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 编?
Common words with 编 include: 编辑 (biān jí, "to edit"); 编排 (biān pái, "to arrange"); 编剧 (biān jù, "to write a play"); 编造 (biān zào, "to compile"); 编号 (biān hào, "to number"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 编 (biān)?
Several characters share the pronunciation biān: 遍 (everywhere), 蝙 (used in 蝙蝠), 变 (to change), 边 (side), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 编 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 编 and the traditional form is 編.

Practice writing 编 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.