衔 (xián): bit (of a bridle), to hold in the mouth, to harbor (feelings)
衔 (xián) is a Chinese character meaning “bit (of a bridle).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 行 (phonetic) and 钅 (semantic). It ranks #2261 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 衔 metal. Its radical form 行 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 行 (xíng, to walk), 街 (jiē, street), 衡 (héng, to weigh).
Definitions
- bit (of a bridle)
- to hold in the mouth
- to harbor (feelings)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 衔 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 头衔noun | tóu xián | title |
| 军衔noun | jūn xián | army rank |
| 衔接verb | xián jiē | to link up |
| 领衔verb | lǐng xián | leading (role) |
| 官衔noun | guān xián | title |
| 警衔noun | jǐng xián | police rank |
| 职衔noun | zhí xián | title (position within an organization) |
| 授衔 | shòu xián | rank of professor |
| 领衔主演 | lǐng xián zhǔ yǎn | leading actors (in a show) |
| 结草衔环phrase | jié cǎo xián huán | to repay sb's kind acts (idiom) |
| 学衔noun | xué xián | academic title |
| 名衔noun | míng xián | rank |
| 马衔noun | mǎ xián | bit |
| 燕子衔泥垒大窝 | yàn zi xián ní lěi dà wō | the swallow's nest is built one beakful of mud at a time (idiom) |
| 钳马衔枚 | qián mǎ xián méi | with horses and soldiers gagged (idiom) |
衔 appears in 15 compound words: 7 as the first character, 67 as the last, and 27 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 衔 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
衔字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
xián zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "衔" has different usages in different contexts.
海南自贸港“二线口岸”信用管理加紧衔接国家新规
hǎi nán zì mào gǎng èr xiàn kǒu àn xìn yòng guǎn lǐ jiā jǐn xián jiē guó jiā xīn guī
Hainan Free Trade Port Accelerates Alignment of Credit Management for "Second-Line Ports" with New National Regulations
...确认澳门世界杯参赛名单 王楚钦、孙颖莎领衔
. . . què rèn ào mén shì jiè bēi cān sài míng dān wáng chǔ qīn , sūn yǐng 莎 lǐng xián
... Confirmed the list of participants in the Macau World Cup led by Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha
...iors and Emperors) 领衔 TimeLine 3 月 3 日举办的...
. . . i o r s a n d E m p e r o r s ) lǐng xián T i m e L i n e 3 yuè 3 rì jǔ bàn de . . .
... iors and Emperors) led TimeLine's March 3...
... 8.4GB 创新高:华为 12GB 领衔,苹果逼近 10GB
. . . 8 . 4 G B chuàng xīn gāo : huá wéi 1 2 G B lǐng xián , píng guǒ bī jìn 1 0 G B
... 8.4GB hits a new high: Huawei leads with 12GB, Apple approaches 10GB
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 钅 (metal) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 衔 (xián) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 衔 have?
What is the radical of 衔?
What are the components of 衔?
What are common words containing 衔?
What characters sound the same as 衔 (xián)?
Is 衔 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 衔 with real-time feedback
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