氮 (dàn): nitrogen (chemistry)

氮 (dàn) is a Chinese character meaning “nitrogen (chemistry).” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 气 (semantic) and 炎 (phonetic). It ranks #3124 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 氮 gas. Its radical form 气 (steam) appears in many related characters such as 气 (qì, gas), 氛 (fēn, miasma), 氧 (yǎng, oxygen (chemistry)).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. nitrogen (chemistry)

Etymology & Origin

氮

pictophoneticgas

Decomposition: ⿹气炎 (layout: surround-from-upper-right)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
液氮nounyè dànliquid nitrogen
氮气noundàn qìnitrogen
氮氧化物dàn yǎng huà wùnitrogen oxide
有机氮yǒu jī dànorganic nitrogen
一氧化二氮nounyī yǎng huà èr dànnitrous oxide N2O
一氧化氮nounyī yǎng huà dànnitric oxide
二氧化氮nounèr yǎng huà dànnitrogen dioxide
氮芥气dàn jiè qìnitrogen mustard
固氮gù dànnitrogen fixation
苯二氮䓬běn èr dàn zhuó(organic chemistry, pharmacology) benzodiazepine
氮化镓dàn huà jiāgallium nitride (GaN)
氮泵dàn bèngpre-workout (supplement)
氮烯dàn xīnitrene (chemistry)
13
Total compounds
46
As first character
46
As last character
8
As middle character

氮 appears in 13 compound words: 46 as the first character, 46 as the last, and 8 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

IT之家Sep 2026

团队发现,循环电场持续驱动氮空位重新分布、局域团聚和长程迁移。

tuán duì fā xiàn , xún huán diàn chǎng chí xù qū dòng dàn kōng wèi chóng xīn fēn bù , jú yù tuán jù hé cháng chéng qiān yí .

The team found that the cyclic electric field continuously drives the redistribution, localized aggregation, and long-range migration of nitrogen vacancies.

IT之家Sep 2026

充电头这个品类卷了这么多年,从体积卷到氮化镓,现在开始卷“屏幕”了。

chōng diàn tóu zhè gè pǐn lèi juǎn le zhè me duō nián , cóng tǐ jī juǎn dào dàn huà jiā , xiàn zài kāi shǐ juǎn píng mù le .

The charger market has been in a race to outdo each other for years—from size to gallium nitride—and now the competition has shifted to “displays.”

奇客SolidotSep 2026

将电池在充满氮气的手套箱中储存 300 天后,其效率仍保留了初始值的约 96%。

jiāng diàn chí zài chōng mǎn dàn qì de shǒu tào xiāng zhōng chǔ cún 3 0 0 tiān hòu , qí xiào lǜ réng bǎo liú le chū shǐ zhí de yuē 9 6 .

After storing the battery for 300 days in a glove box filled with nitrogen, its efficiency remained at approximately 96% of its initial value.

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

根据碳氮硫稳定同位素的分析,先民食谱极为丰富,以粟黍农业为主,也摄入一定动物蛋白。

gēn jù tàn dàn liú wěn dìng tóng wèi sù de fēn xī , xiān mín shí pǔ jí wéi fēng fù , yǐ sù 黍 nóng yè wéi zhǔ , yě shè rù yī dìng dòng wù dàn bái .

According to analyses of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotopes, the diet of our ancestors was extremely diverse, centered on millet and sorghum agriculture, and included a certain amount of animal protein.

少数派Aug 2026

鼻腔和鼻窦还会产生少量一氧化氮,并随吸气进入呼吸道,可能参与局部气道和肺血流的调节。

bí qiāng hé bí dòu hái huì chǎn shēng shǎo liàng yī yǎng huà dàn , bìng suí xī qì jìn rù hū xī dào , kě néng cān yǔ jú bù qì dào hé fèi xiě liú de diào jié .

The nasal cavity and sinuses also produce small amounts of nitric oxide, which enters the respiratory tract during inhalation and may play a role in regulating local airway and pulmonary blood flow.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 气 (gas) component

气 Radical Family — Characters sharing the steam radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced dàn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 氮 (dàn) mean in Chinese?
氮 (dàn) primarily means "nitrogen (chemistry)." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3124 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 氮 and 谈?
氮 (dàn) and 谈 (tán) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 气 vs 讠 (same 炎 component).
How many strokes does 氮 have?
氮 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 氮?
The radical associated with 氮 is 气 (steam). This radical appears in many characters related to steam.
What are the components of 氮?
氮 is composed of: 气 (semantic), 炎 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿹气炎 with a surround-from-upper-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 氮?
Common words with 氮 include: 液氮 (yè dàn, "liquid nitrogen"); 氮气 (dàn qì, "nitrogen"); 氮氧化物 (dàn yǎng huà wù, "nitrogen oxide"); 有机氮 (yǒu jī dàn, "organic nitrogen"); 一氧化二氮 (yī yǎng huà èr dàn, "nitrous oxide N2O"). There are over 13 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 氮 (dàn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation dàn: 淡 (insipid). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 氮 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 氮 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 氮 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.