麟 (lín): variant of 麟[lin2]

麟 (lín) is a Chinese character meaning “variant of 麟[lin2].” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 鹿 (semantic) and 粦 (phonetic). It ranks #3139 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 麟 deer. Its radical form 鹿 (deer) appears in many related characters such as 鹿 (lù, deer).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 鹿 deer23 strokesFrequency #3139鹿 semantic 粦 phonetic

Definitions

variant of 麟[lin2]

Etymology & Origin

麟

pictophoneticdeer

Decomposition: ⿰鹿粦 (layout: left-right)

Components:鹿semantic 粦phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 麟 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
麒麟	qí lín	(Chinese mythology) qilin
凤毛麟角	fèng máo lín jiǎo	lit. as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns (idiom)
麟经	lín jīng	another name for the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋
麟游县	lín yóu xiàn	Linyou County in Baoji 寶雞\|宝鸡[Bao3 ji1], Shaanxi
萨摩麟	sà mó lín	Samotherium (early giraffe)
麒麟区	qí lín qū	Qilin district, Qujing city, Yunnan
麟角凤觜	lín jiǎo fèng zuǐ	lit. qilin's horn, phoenix's mouth (idiom)
章炳麟	zhāng bǐng lín	Zhang Taiyan 章太炎 (1869-1936), scholar, journalist, revolutionary and leading intellectual around the time of the Xinh...
麟游	lín yóu	Linyou County in Baoji 寶雞\|宝鸡[Bao3 ji1], Shaanxi
麒麟座	qí lín zuò	Monoceros (constellation)
汤玉麟	tāng yù lín	Tang Yulin (1871-1937), minor warlord in northeast China, sometime governor of Chengde 承德, mostly poor in battle but ...
麒麟菜	qí lín cài	eucheuma, a type of red algae (used in TCM)
麒麟殿	qí lín diàn	see 麒麟閣\|麒麟阁[Qi2 lin2 Ge2]
麒麟阁	qí lín gé	Qilin Pavilion, located in the Weiyang Palace, a hall decorated with portraits of famous officials
麟洛乡	lín luò xiāng	Linlo township in Pingtung County 屏東縣\|屏东县[Ping2 dong1 Xian4], Taiwan

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

麟 appears in 18 compound words: 33 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 33 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 麟 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

兆zhào

0.5396,564 co-occurrences

徐xú

0.4545,718 co-occurrences

锡xī

0.4442,640 co-occurrences

祥xiáng

0.4433,678 co-occurrences

玉yù

0.4295,502 co-occurrences

刘liú

0.4164,074 co-occurrences

瞻zhān

0.408510 co-occurrences

洪hóng

0.4063,390 co-occurrences

杨yáng

0.4012,706 co-occurrences

李lǐ

0.3907,485 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

凤毛麟角fèngmáo línjiǎoHSK 7+

rarity of rarities; rare treasures or talents; things that are few and far between

phrase

麟角凤觜lín jiǎo fèng zuǐHSK 7+

lit. qilin's horn, phoenix's mouth (idiom); fig. rara avis; rarity

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

学习麟字需要反复练习，才能写得工整。

xué xí lín zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .

Writing the character "麟" requires repeated practice to achieve neat handwriting.

NewtalkMar 2026

HBL乙级总决赛4/8登场南澳教练高天麟盼晋4强

H B L yǐ jí zǒng jué sài 4 8 dēng chǎng nán ào jiào liàn gāo tiān lín pàn jìn 4 qiáng

HBL Division B Finals Kick Off on April 8; South Australia Coach Gao Tianlin Aims for the Semifinals

中時新聞網Mar 2026

徐乃麟带家人新加坡出游乃嫂与洋媳同框美貌吸睛

xú nǎi lín dài jiā rén xīn jiā pō chū yóu nǎi sǎo yǔ yáng xí tóng kuàng měi mào xī jīng

Hsu Nai-lin Takes His Family on a Trip to Singapore; His Sister-in-Law and Foreign Daughter-in-Law Steal the Show with Their Beauty

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

剑麟2025年 EPS 为5.25元拟配发...

jiàn lín 2 0 2 5 nián E P S wéi 5 . 2 5 yuán nǐ pèi fā . . .

Jianlin's 2025 EPS is 5.25 yuan to be distributed...

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

德国羽赛/麟榤配轻取对手晋男双16强李哲辉与杨博轩...

dé guó yǔ sài lín 榤 pèi qīng qǔ duì shǒu jìn nán shuāng 1 6 qiáng lǐ zhé huī yǔ yáng bó 轩 . . .

German Badminton Tournament/Lin Yu easily defeated his opponent to advance to the men's doubles round of 16 Li Zhehui and Yang Boxuan...

Character Family

鹿 Radical Family — Characters sharing the deer radical

鹿lù

Related Characters

鹿lù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 麟 (lín) mean in Chinese?

麟 (lín) primarily means "variant of 麟[lin2]." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3139 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 麟 have?

麟 is written with 23 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 麟?

The radical associated with 麟 is 鹿 (deer). This radical appears in many characters related to deer.

What are the components of 麟?

麟 is composed of: 鹿 (semantic), 粦 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰鹿粦 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 麟?

Common words with 麟 include: 麒麟 (qí lín, "(Chinese mythology) qilin"); 凤毛麟角 (fèng máo lín jiǎo, "lit. as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns (idiom)"); 麟经 (lín jīng, "another name for the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋"); 麟游县 (lín yóu xiàn, "Linyou County in Baoji 寶雞|宝鸡[Bao3 ji1], Shaanxi"); 萨摩麟 (sà mó lín, "Samotherium (early giraffe)"). There are over 18 compound words containing this character.

Is 麟 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

Practice writing 麟 with real-time feedback

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