淀 (diàn): (bound form) shallow lake (usu. in place names), to form sediment, to precipitate

淀 (diàn) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) shallow lake (usu. in place names).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 定 (phonetic). It ranks #2829 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 淀 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 氵 water11 strokesFrequency #2829氵 semantic 定 phonetic

Definitions

(bound form) shallow lake (usu. in place names)
to form sediment
to precipitate

Etymology & Origin

淀

pictophoneticwater

Decomposition: ⿰氵定 (layout: left-right)

Components:氵semantic 定phonetic

Stroke Order

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
淀粉noun	diàn fěn	starch
沉淀verb	chén diàn	variant of 沉澱\|沉淀
沉淀物noun	chén diàn wù	precipitate
淀粉酶noun	diàn fěn méi	amylase
积淀verb	jī diàn	deposits accumulated over long periods
海淀图书城	hǎi diàn tú shū chéng	Haidian Book City, Beijing bookstore
动物淀粉	dòng wù diàn fěn	glycogen
海淀区	hǎi diàn qū	Haidian, a district of Beijing
淀积物	diàn jī wù	(geology) illuvial material
白洋淀proper-noun	bái yáng diàn	Baiyang Lake in Hebei
淀山湖	diàn shān hú	Dianshan Lake in Shanghai
玉米淀粉noun	yù mǐ diàn fěn	corn starch
海淀proper-noun	hǎi diàn	see 海淀區\|海淀区
淀积	diàn jī	(geology) to illuviate
木薯淀粉	mù shǔ diàn fěn	tapioca

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

淀 appears in 16 compound words: 38 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 38 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 淀 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

饶ráo

0.75210 co-occurrences

沉chén

0.5963,086 co-occurrences

粉fěn

0.5511,716 co-occurrences

海hǎi

0.4624,630 co-occurrences

区qū

0.4283,058 co-occurrences

川chuān

0.4221,308 co-occurrences

卖mài

0.41510 co-occurrences

涤dí

0.41526 co-occurrences

夜yè

0.41210 co-occurrences

肠cháng

0.39125 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

动物淀粉dòng wù diàn fěnHSK 7+

glycogen

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

孩子们喜欢在清澈的淀边玩耍，捉小鱼小虾。

hái zǐ men xǐ huān zài qīng 澈 de diàn biān wán shuǎ , zhuō xiǎo yú xiǎo xiā .

Children love to play along the clear edge of the pond, catching little fish and shrimp.

UdnnewsindexApr 2026

大陆小吃“淀粉肠”登台遭骂爆 60元高价陆网友也摇头...

dà lù xiǎo chī diàn fěn cháng dēng tái zāo mà bào 6 0 yuán gāo jià lù wǎng yǒu yě yáo tóu . . .

Mainland Chinese snack "starch sausage" faces backlash after debuting in Taiwan; even at 60 yuan, mainland netizens are shaking their heads...

TvbsApr 2026

饶河夜市卖淀粉肠挨轰!成分不明售价贵6倍业者送检暂...

ráo hé yè shì mài diàn fěn cháng āi hōng ! chéng fēn bù míng shòu jià guì 6 bèi yè zhě sòng jiǎn zàn . . .

Raohe Night Market's Starch Sausages Come Under Fire! Ingredients Unclear, Price Six Times Higher; Vendor Sends Samples for Testing, but...

中時新聞網Apr 2026

饶河夜市卖淀粉肠!业者“没送食品检验”被炎上道歉了:...

ráo hé yè shì mài diàn fěn cháng ! yè zhě méi sòng shí pǐn jiǎn yàn bèi yán shàng dào qiàn le : . . .

Raohe Night Market Sells Starch-Based Sausages! Vendor Apologizes After Backlash for "Failing to Submit Products for Food Inspection":...

TvbsMar 2026

没吃淀粉还是胖!医示警:少做3件事恐“越努力越...

méi chī diàn fěn hái shì pàng ! yī shì jǐng : shǎo zuò 3 jiàn shì kǒng yuè nǔ lì yuè . . .

"I'm still gaining weight even though I'm not eating carbs!" Doctors warn: Avoiding these 3 things may lead to "the harder you try, the..."

百度新闻Feb 2026

北京海淀:春晚同款机器人返场,硬核科技“打开”庙...

běi jīng hǎi diàn : chūn wǎn tóng kuǎn jī qì rén fǎn chǎng , yìng hé kē jì dǎ kāi miào . . .

Beijing Haidian: The same robot returns to the Spring Festival Gala, and hard-core technology "opens" the temple...

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 淀 (diàn) mean in Chinese?

淀 (diàn) primarily means "(bound form) shallow lake (usu. in place names)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2829 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 淀 and 深?

淀 (diàn) and 深 (shēn) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 淀 (shallow) vs 深 (deep).

How many strokes does 淀 have?

淀 is written with 11 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 淀?

The radical associated with 淀 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.

What are the components of 淀?

淀 is composed of: 氵 (semantic), 定 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵定 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 淀?

Common words with 淀 include: 淀粉 (diàn fěn, "starch"); 沉淀 (chén diàn, "variant of 沉澱|沉淀"); 沉淀物 (chén diàn wù, "precipitate"); 淀粉酶 (diàn fěn méi, "amylase"); 积淀 (jī diàn, "deposits accumulated over long periods"). There are over 16 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 淀 (diàn)?

Several characters share the pronunciation diàn: 点 (point, o'clock), 电 (lightning), 店 (shop), 典 (canon), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 淀 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 淀 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 淀 with real-time feedback

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