鳞 (lín): scales (of fish, snakes etc)
鳞 (lín) is a Chinese character meaning “scales (of fish, snakes etc).” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 鱼 (semantic) and 粦 (phonetic). It ranks #3412 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 鳞 fish. Its radical form 鱼 (fish) appears in many related characters such as 鱼 (yú, fish), 鲜 (xiān, fresh), 鲨 (shā, shark).
Definitions
- scales (of fish, snakes etc)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 鳞 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 遍体鳞伤phrase | biàn tǐ lín shāng | (idiom) covered all over with cuts and bruises |
| 鱼鳞 | yú lín | fish scales |
| 鳞片noun | lín piàn | scale (of fish, reptiles etc) |
| 鳞茎noun | lín jīng | (botany) bulb |
| 大鳞大马哈鱼 | dà lín dá mǎ hǎ yú | see 大鱗大麻哈魚|大鳞大麻哈鱼 |
| 大鳞大麻哈鱼 | dà lín dá má hǎ yú | king salmon |
| 鳞次栉比 | lín cì zhì bǐ | row upon row |
| 东鳞西爪phrase | dōng lín xī zhǎo | lit. a dragon's scale from the east and a dragon's claw from the west |
| 一鳞半爪phrase | yī lín bàn zhǎo | lit. one scale and half a claw (idiom) |
| 毛鳞鱼 | máo lín yú | capelin |
| 鳞状细胞癌 | lín zhuàng xì bāo ái | squamous cell carcinoma |
| 鳞伤 | lín shāng | cuts and bruises like fish scales |
| 鳞状adjective | lín zhuàng | scaly |
| 小鳞胸鹪鹛 | xiǎo lín xiōng jiāo méi | (bird species of China) pygmy cupwing |
| 鳞腹绿啄木鸟 | lín fù lǜ zhuó mù niǎo | (bird species of China) scaly-bellied woodpecker (Picus squamatus) |
鳞 appears in 21 compound words: 57 as the first character, 10 as the last, and 33 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
史传南宋皇宫气势恢宏，殿、堂、楼、阁、台、轩、观、亭等建筑鳞次栉比。
shǐ chuán nán sòng huáng gōng qì shì huī hóng , diàn , táng , lóu , gé , tái , xuān , guān , tíng děng jiàn zhù lín cì 栉 bǐ .
Historical accounts describe the imperial palace of the Southern Song Dynasty as magnificent, with buildings such as halls, pavilions, towers, galleries, terraces, verandas, temples, and pavilions standing side by side in neat rows.
鱼鳞云：三天内可能出现大风强降雨。
yú lín yún : sān tiān nèi kě néng chū xiàn dà fēng qiáng jiàng yǔ .
Fish-scale clouds: Strong winds and heavy rain may occur within three days.
岚图梦想家 9 官图公布：升降立标、龙鳞纹专属纹饰、贯穿尾灯
岚 tú mèng xiǎng jiā 9 guān tú gōng bù : shēng jiàng lì biāo , lóng lín wén zhuān shǔ wén shì , guàn chuān wěi dēng
Official Images of the Lynk & Co Dreamer 9 Released: Retractable Emblem, Exclusive "Dragon Scale" Pattern, and Full-Width Taillights
中国首次发现2.56亿年前棘鳞鲨 以化石产地邵阳命名建新种
zhōng guó shǒu cì fā xiàn 2 . 5 6 yì nián qián jí lín shā yǐ huà shí chǎn dì shào yáng mìng míng jiàn xīn zhǒng
China's First Discovery of a 256-Million-Year-Old Spiny-scaled Shark: New Species Named After Its Fossil Site in Shaoyang
比如生成一只怪兽，表面微微隆起的龙鳞可以进入高模，再和低多边形模型结合。
bǐ rú shēng chéng yī zhī guài shòu , biǎo miàn wēi wēi lóng qǐ de lóng lín kě yǐ jìn rù gāo mó , zài hé dī duō biān xíng mó xíng jié hé .
For example, when creating a monster, the slightly raised dragon scales on its surface can be modeled in high resolution and then combined with a low-poly model.
Character Family
鱼 Radical Family — Characters sharing the fish radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 鳞 (lín) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 鳞 have?
What is the radical of 鳞?
What are the components of 鳞?
What are common words containing 鳞?
What characters sound the same as 鳞 (lín)?
Is 鳞 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 鳞 with real-time feedback
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