炼 (liàn): to refine, to smelt
炼 (liàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to refine.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 火 (semantic) and 柬 (phonetic). It ranks #1746 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 炼 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).
Definitions
- to refine
- to smelt
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 炼 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 炼
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 炼狱noun | liàn yù | purgatory |
| 提炼verb | tí liàn | to extract (ore, minerals etc) |
| 炼油厂noun | liàn yóu chǎng | oil refinery |
| 精炼verb | jīng liàn | to refine (a substance) |
| 炼金术noun | liàn jīn shù | alchemy |
| 修炼 | xiū liàn | (of Taoists) to practice austerities |
| 磨炼verb | mó liàn | variant of 磨練|磨练 |
| 炼铁verb | liàn tiě | smelting iron |
| 炼钢verb | liàn gāng | to make steel |
| 炼丹verb | liàn dān | to concoct pills of immortality |
| 炼乳noun | liàn rǔ | to condense milk (by evaporation) |
| 熔炼verb | róng liàn | to smelt |
| 冶炼verb | yě liàn | to smelt metal |
| 锤炼 | chuí liàn | to forge (metal) |
| 炼制 | liàn zhì | (chemistry) to refine |
炼 appears in 42 compound words: 50 as the first character, 40 as the last, and 10 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 炼 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
厨师用猛炼爆炒，锅里的菜肴香气四溢。
chú shī yòng měng liàn bào chǎo , guō lǐ de cài 肴 xiāng qì sì yì .
The chef stir-fried the ingredients over high heat, filling the kitchen with the aroma of the cooking dish.
中石化炼化工程(02386)新签合同去年第四季录...
zhōng shí huà liàn huà gōng chéng ( 0 2 3 8 6 ) xīn qiān gě tóng qù nián dì sì jì lù . . .
Sinopec Refining & Chemical Engineering (02386) signed a new contract in the fourth quarter of last year...
日本拆解废弃马达提炼稀土,冀摆脱依赖中国
rì běn chāi jiě fèi qì mǎ dá tí liàn xī tǔ , 冀 bǎi tuō yī lài zhōng guó
Japan dismantled abandoned motors to refine rare earths, hoping to get rid of dependence on China
参加纽约新年游行 法轮功学员谈修炼体会
cān jiā niǔ yuē xīn nián yóu háng fǎ lún gōng xué yuán tán xiū liàn tǐ huì
Participating in the New Year's parade in New York, Falun Gong practitioners talk about their cultivation experience
高金素梅“炼金术”揭穿! 陈耀训哥哥列被告
gāo jīn sù méi liàn jīn shù jiē chuān ! chén yào xùn gē gē liè bèi gào
Gao Jin Sumei's "alchemy" debunked! Chen Yaoxun's brother was listed as a defendant
《天机试炼场》粗俗发言开殉职案玩笑?全炫茂挨轰急灭...
tiān jī shì liàn chǎng cū sú fā yán kāi 殉 zhí àn wán xiào ? quán xuàn mào āi hōng jí miè . . .
"Tianji Proving Ground" vulgar speech joke about the death of the duty? Quan Xuanmao was bombarded and destroyed...
住在大城市的人们一般都缺乏锻炼。
Zhù zài dàchéngshì de rénmen yībān dōu quēfá duànliàn.
People living in a big city tend to lack exercise.
她锻炼时扭伤了脚踝。
Tā duànliàn shí niǔ shāng le jiǎohuái.
She twisted her ankle while she was doing exercise.
我需要更经常地锻炼。
Wǒ xūyào gèng jīngcháng de duànliàn.
I need to exercise more often.
我姐姐为了减肥每天都锻炼。
Wǒ jiějie wèile jiǎnféi měitiān dōu duàn liàn.
My older sister exercises every day to lose weight.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 火 (fire) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 炼 (liàn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 炼 and 拣?
How many strokes does 炼 have?
What is the radical of 炼?
What are the components of 炼?
What are common words containing 炼?
What characters sound the same as 炼 (liàn)?
Is 炼 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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