典 (diǎn): canon, law, standard work of scholarship
典 (diǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “canon.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 曲 (structural) and 八 (structural). It ranks #1043 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 典 two hands 八 holding a book 冊. Its radical form 八 (eight) appears in many related characters such as 八 (bā, eight), 六 (liù, six), 关 (guān, mountain pass).
Definitions
- canon
- law
- standard work of scholarship
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTwo hands 八 holding a book 冊
Decomposition: ⿱曲八 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 典 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 典
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 经典noun/adjective | jīng diǎn | the classics | 5 |
| 典型noun/adjective | diǎn xíng | model | 6 |
| 典礼noun | diǎn lǐ | ceremony | 6 |
| 古典adjective | gǔ diǎn | classical | 6 |
| 字典noun | zì diǎn | Chinese character dictionary (containing entries for single characters, contrasted with a 詞典|词典[ci2 dian3], which has... | 3 |
| 词典noun | cí diǎn | dictionary | 3 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 瑞典 | ruì diǎn | Sweden |
| 庆典 | qìng diǎn | celebration |
| 典范 | diǎn fàn | model |
| 法典 | fǎ diǎn | legal code |
| 典当 | diǎn dàng | to pawn |
| 雅典 | yǎ diǎn | Athens, capital of Greece |
| 辞典 | cí diǎn | dictionary (variant of 詞典|词典[ci2 dian3]) |
| 恩典 | ēn diǎn | favor |
| 雅典娜 | yǎ diǎn nà | Athena |
| 宝典 | bǎo diǎn | canonical text |
| 盛典 | shèng diǎn | majestic pomp |
| 典雅 | diǎn yǎ | refined |
| 典故 | diǎn gù | classical story or quote from the literature |
| 瑞典语 | ruì diǎn yǔ | Swedish (language) |
| 非典 | fēi diǎn | atypical pneumonia |
典 appears in 86 compound words: 19 as the first character, 55 as the last, and 27 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 典 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
to forget one's roots; to be ignorant of the history of one's own country or ancestors
Showing 8 of 9 idioms containing 典.
Example Sentences
典字在日常生活中使用频率很高。
diǎn zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ hěn gāo .
The character "典" is used very frequently in daily life.
中钢举办新春开泰祈福典礼 董事长:“稳定获利”是今年最重要的目...
zhōng gāng jǔ bàn xīn chūn kāi tài qí fú diǎn lǐ dǒng shì cháng : wěn dìng huò lì shì jīn nián zuì chóng yāo de mù . . .
China Steel held a New Year blessing ceremony Chairman: "Stable profits" is the most important goal of this year.
经典赛》王建民撞脸SJ希澈的飘发照 韩媒也关...
jīng diǎn sài wáng jiàn mín zhuàng liǎn S J xī chè de piāo fā zhào hán méi yě guān . . .
Classic" Wang Jianmin hit SJ Heechul's hair photo in the face Korean media is also closed...
经典兵学丨“鸳鸯阵”对现代协同作战的启示
jīng diǎn bīng xué 丨 鸳 鸯 zhèn duì xiàn dài xié tóng zuò zhàn de qǐ shì
Classic military science丨The enlightenment of the "Mandarin Duck Formation" to modern coordinated operations
冬奥/越野滑雪收官战:瑞典名将安德松女子50公里夺金
dōng ào yuè yě huá xuě shōu guān zhàn : ruì diǎn míng jiāng ān dé sōng nǚ zǐ 5 0 gōng lǐ duó jīn
Winter Olympics/Cross-country Skiing Finale: Sweden's Andersson won gold in the women's 50km
我能用一下你的字典吗？
Wǒ néng yòng yīxià nǐ de zìdiǎn ma?
Can I use your dictionary for a minute?
为什么你买了一本那么贵的词典？
Wèishénme nǐ mǎi le yī běn nàme guì de cídiǎn?
Why did you get such a costly dictionary?
您碰巧有一本额外的英文字典吗？
Nín pèngqiǎo yǒu yī běn éwài de Yīngwén zìdiǎn ma?
Do you have an extra English dictionary by any chance?
把你的字典借给我好吗？
Bǎ nǐ de zìdiǎn jiègěi wǒ hǎo ma?
Will you lend me your dictionary?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 典 (diǎn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 典 have?
What is the radical of 典?
What are the components of 典?
What are common words containing 典?
What characters sound the same as 典 (diǎn)?
Is 典 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 典 with real-time feedback
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