棱 (léng): square beam

棱 (léng) is a Chinese character meaning “square beam.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 夌 (phonetic). It ranks #2690 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 棱 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. square beam

Etymology & Origin

棱

pictophoneticwood

Decomposition: ⿰木夌 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
棱角nounléng jiǎoedge and corner
模棱两可phrasemó léng liǎng kěequivocal
棱镜léng jìng(optics) prism
三棱镜nounsān léng jìng(triangular) prism
有棱有角phraseyǒu léng yǒu jiǎo(of a shape) sharp and clearcut
斯摩棱斯克proper-nounsī mó léng sī kèSmolensk (Russian city)
花不棱登adjectivehuā bu lēng dēnggaudy
三棱草sān léng cǎosedge herb (Cyperus rotundus)
五棱镜wǔ léng jìngpentaprism
棱台léng táiprism
穆棱市mù líng shìMuling, a county-level city in Mudanjiang City 牡丹江市, Heilongjiang
模棱adjectivemó léngambiguous
丹棱县dān líng xiànDanling, a county in Meishan City 眉山市, Sichuan
刺棱cī lēng(onom.) sound of quick movement
横棱纹héng léng wéncrosswise pattern
24
Total compounds
21
As first character
29
As last character
50
As middle character

棱 appears in 24 compound words: 21 as the first character, 29 as the last, and 50 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 棱 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

柱zhù
0.5281,198 co-occurrences
镜jìng
0.516702 co-occurrences
研yán
0.49110 co-occurrences
摩mó
0.4821,086 co-occurrences
钝dùn
0.44750 co-occurrences
扭niǔ
0.430170 co-occurrences
肤fū
0.41280 co-occurrences
穆mù
0.407380 co-occurrences
茎jīng
0.39848 co-occurrences
模mó
0.396780 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

花不棱登huābulēngdēngHSK 7+

gaudy; having too many jumbled colors

adjective
模棱两可móléngliǎngkěHSK 7+

ambiguous; equivocal

phrase
瘦骨棱棱shòu gǔ léng léngHSK 7+

bony; skinny

phrase
有棱有角yǒuléngyǒujiǎoHSK 7+

to have sharp and distinct edges and corners; to have a forceful personality and definite views of one's own

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

工人们正在砍伐病棱,防止虫害蔓延。

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

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

DigitimesApr 2026

棱研卫星、国防、6G三线布局成形 最快20...

léng yán wèi xīng , guó fáng , 6 G sān xiàn bù jú chéng xíng zuì kuài 2 0 . . .

Lingyan's three-pronged strategy in satellites, national defense, and 6G takes shape; as early as 20...

DigitimesApr 2026

台厂首家打入ESA核心供应链 棱研携手Comtech推多轨卫星终端

tái hǎn shǒu jiā dǎ rù E S A hé xīn gōng yīng liàn léng yán xié shǒu C o m t e c h tuī duō guǐ wèi xīng zhōng duān

First Taiwanese Company to Enter ESA's Core Supply Chain: Lingyan Partners with Comtech to Launch Multi-Orbit Satellite Terminals

LtnApr 2026

...iLB》极速158公里的台湾队遗珠!张弘棱3局飙3K写生涯首见里程碑

. . . i L B jí sù 1 5 8 gōng lǐ de tái wān duì yí zhū ! zhāng hóng léng 3 jú biāo 3 K xiě shēng yá shǒu jiàn lǐ chéng bēi

...iLB: Taiwan's Unsung Hero Hits 158 km/h! Chang Hung-ling Strikes Out 3 in 3 Innings, Reaching a Career First

DigitimesMar 2026

(专访)工研院打通台英太空合作 仁宝、棱研卡位地面设备首波商机

( zhuān fǎng ) gōng yán yuàn dǎ tōng tái yīng tài kōng gě zuò rén bǎo , léng yán kǎ wèi dì miàn shè bèi shǒu bō shāng jī

(Exclusive Interview) ITRI Facilitates Taiwan-UK Space Cooperation; Compal and LEN Research Position Themselves for Initial Commercial Opportunities in Ground Equipment

DigitimesMar 2026

棱研科技MWC展毫米波相位阵列布局 聚焦多...

léng yán kē jì M W C zhǎn háo mǐ bō xiāng wèi zhèn liè bù jú jù jiāo duō . . .

Lingyan Technology MWC exhibition millimeter wave phase array layout focuses on multi...

Tatoeba

山无棱,天地合,我就跟你走。

Shān wú léng, tiāndì hé, wǒ jiù gēn nǐ zǒu.

I'll go with you when pigs fly.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 木 (wood) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced léng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 棱 (léng) mean in Chinese?
棱 (léng) primarily means "square beam." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2690 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 棱 and 凌?
棱 (léng) and 凌 (líng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 木 vs 冫 (same 夌 component).
How many strokes does 棱 have?
棱 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 棱?
The radical associated with 棱 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.
What are the components of 棱?
棱 is composed of: 木 (semantic), 夌 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰木夌 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 棱?
Common words with 棱 include: 棱角 (léng jiǎo, "edge and corner"); 模棱两可 (mó léng liǎng kě, "equivocal"); 棱镜 (léng jìng, "(optics) prism"); 三棱镜 (sān léng jìng, "(triangular) prism"); 有棱有角 (yǒu léng yǒu jiǎo, "(of a shape) sharp and clearcut"). There are over 24 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 棱 (léng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation léng: 冷 (cold), 愣 (to look distracted). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 棱 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 棱 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 棱 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.