寝 (qǐn): (bound form) to lie down to sleep or rest, (bound form) bedroom, (bound form) imperial tomb
寝 (qǐn) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) to lie down to sleep or rest.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 宀 (structural). It ranks #2633 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 寝 a person 彐冖又 lying down on a bed 丬 in their home 宀. Its radical form 宀 (roof) appears in many related characters such as 客 (kè, guest, customer), 家 (jiā, home, family), 它 (tā, it).
Definitions
- (bound form) to lie down to sleep or rest
- (bound form) bedroom
- (bound form) imperial tomb
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 彐冖又 lying down on a bed 丬 in their home 宀
Decomposition: ⿱宀⿰丬⿳彐冖又 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 寝 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 寝室 | qǐn shì | bedroom |
| 就寝 | jiù qǐn | to go to sleep |
| 寝食难安 | qǐn shí nán ān | lit. cannot rest or eat in peace (idiom) |
| 寿终正寝 | shòu zhōng zhèng qǐn | to die of old age |
| 废寝忘食 | fèi qǐn wàng shí | (idiom) to skip one's sleep and meals |
| 寝具 | qǐn jù | bedding |
| 食肉寝皮 | shí ròu qǐn pí | to eat sb's flesh and sleep on their hide (idiom) |
| 安寝 | ān qǐn | to sleep peacefully |
| 废寝忘餐 | fèi qǐn wàng cān | see 廢寢忘食|废寝忘食[fei4 qin3 wang4 shi2] |
| 忘餐废寝 | wàng cān fèi qǐn | see 廢寢忘食|废寝忘食[fei4 qin3 wang4 shi2] |
| 废寝食 | fèi qǐn shí | to neglect sleep and food |
| 寝苫枕块 | qǐn shān zhěn kuài | bed of straw and pillow of clay (idiom) |
| 枕戈寝甲 | zhěn gē qǐn jiǎ | lit. to sleep on one's armor with a spear as a pillow (idiom) |
| 宰予昼寝 | zǎi yǔ zhòu qǐn | Zai Yu sleeps by day (idiom) |
| 陵寝 | líng qǐn | tomb (of king or emperor) |
寝 appears in 15 compound words: 27 as the first character, 40 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 寝 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
to be completely wrapped up in one's work and skip one's sleep and meals
lit. to sleep on one's armor with a spear as a pillow (idiom); fig. to keep ready for battle at all times
to be completely wrapped up in one's work and skip one's sleep and meals
lit. to sleep on one's armor with a spear as a pillow (idiom); fig. to keep ready for battle at all times
Showing 7 of 8 idioms containing 寝.
Example Sentences
这个寝字的意思与它的部首有关。
zhè gě qǐn zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .
The meaning of the character "寝" is related to its radical.
...式停产 近 20 年旗舰工作站系列寿终正寝
. . . shì tíng chǎn jìn 2 0 nián qí jiàn gōng zuò zhàn xì liè shòu zhōng zhèng qǐn
长久以来我都很早就寝。
Chángjiǔ yǐlái wǒ dōu hěn zǎojiù qǐn.
For a long time, I've had a habit of going to bed early.
差不多是我们就寝的时间了。
Chàbuduō shì wǒmen jiùqǐn de shíjiān le.
It's about time we went to bed.
就寝之前不要喝啤酒。
Jiùqǐn zhīqián bù yào hē píjiǔ.
Do not drink beer before going to bed.
我晚上很晚就寝。
Wǒ wǎnshang hěn wǎn jiùqǐn.
I go to bed late at night.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 寝 (qǐn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 寝 and 设?
How many strokes does 寝 have?
What is the radical of 寝?
What are the components of 寝?
What are common words containing 寝?
What characters sound the same as 寝 (qǐn)?
Is 寝 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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