(xiàn): gland

(xiàn) is a Chinese character meaning “gland.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #2201 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, flesh. Its radical form (meat) appears in many related characters such as (ròu, meat), (néng, can), (bèi, the back of a body or object).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. gland

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticflesh

Decomposition: ⿰⺼泉 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
shèn shàng xiànadrenal glands
rǔ xiàn áibreast cancer
jiǎ zhuàng xiàn(anatomy) thyroid gland
qián liè xiànprostate
yí xiànpancreas
sāi xiàn yánmumps
sōng guǒ xiànpineal body
lèi xiànLacrimal gland
yí xiàn yánpancreatitis
hàn xiànsweat gland
xìng xiàngonad
shēng zhí xiàngonad
biǎn táo xiàntonsil
rǔ xiànmammary gland
jiǎ zhuàng xiàn sùthyroid hormone
67
Total compounds
16
As first character
51
As last character
33
As middle character

appears in 67 compound words: 16 as the first character, 51 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

ái
0.66814,116 co-occurrences
shèn
0.6644,074 co-occurrences
0.6018,492 co-occurrences
0.5712,700 co-occurrences
tuò
0.551846 co-occurrences
jiǎ
0.54916,296 co-occurrences
0.52411,646 co-occurrences
zhuàng
0.5076,864 co-occurrences
xiōng
0.5002,694 co-occurrences
liú
0.4891,530 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (5)

biǎntáoxiàn yánHSK 7+

tonsillitis

noun
fùjiǎzhuàngxiànHSK 7+

parathyroid gland

noun
jiǎzhuàngxiànsùHSK 7+

thyroxine

noun
jiǎzhuàngxiànzhǒngHSK 7+

goitre

noun
shènshàngxiànsùHSK 7+

adrenaline; epinephrine

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

分泌帮助调节体温。

Hàn xiàn fēnmì bāngzhù tiáojié tǐwēn.

Sweat gland secretion helps regulate body temperature.

99 健康网Feb 2026

有乳增生怎么办能消除吗?“消除”不现实,“控...

yǒu rǔ xiàn zēng shēng zěn má bàn néng xiāo chú ma ? xiāo chú bù xiàn shí , kòng . . .

What can be done about breast hyperplasia? Can it be eliminated? "Elimination" is unrealistic; "control..."

99 健康网Feb 2026

男生小便完甩一下能改善前列健康吗?促进局部血液循环吗

nán shēng xiǎo biàn wán shuǎi yī xià néng gǎi shàn qián liè xiàn jiàn kāng ma ? cù jìn jú bù xiě yè xún huán ma

Does shaking your penis after urination improve prostate health? Does it promote local blood circulation?

99 健康网Feb 2026

增生要动手术吗?手术是最后选择,非首选方...

rǔ xiàn zēng shēng yāo dòng shǒu shù ma ? shǒu shù shì zuì hòu xuǎn zé , fēi shǒu xuǎn fāng . . .

Does breast hyperplasia require surgery? Surgery is the last resort, not the first choice...

99 健康网Feb 2026

增生要紧吗,要怎么治疗?先做检查再决定是...

rǔ xiàn zēng shēng yāo jǐn ma , yāo zěn má zhì liáo ? xiān zuò jiǎn chá zài jué dìng shì . . .

Is breast hyperplasia serious? How should it be treated? First get tested, then decide...

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

拜耳就前列癌藥物營銷問題起訴強生(JNJ.US)

bài ěr jiù qián liè xiàn ái 藥 wù 營 銷 問 題 qǐ 訴 強 shēng .

Bayer Sues Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US) Over Prostate Cancer Drug Marketing

Tatoeba

我怕她可能得了腮炎。

Wǒ pà tā kěnéng déle sāixiànyán.

I'm afraid she may have the mumps.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced xiàn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 腺 (xiàn) mean in Chinese?
腺 (xiàn) primarily means "gland." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2201 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 腺 and 原?
腺 (xiàn) and 原 (yuán) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 肉 vs 厂 (same 泉 component).
How many strokes does 腺 have?
腺 is written with 15 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 腺?
The radical associated with 腺 is 肉 (meat). This radical appears in many characters related to meat.
What are the components of 腺?
腺 is composed of: ⺼ (semantic), 泉 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰⺼泉 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 腺?
Common words with 腺 include: 肾上腺 (shèn shàng xiàn, "adrenal glands"); 乳腺癌 (rǔ xiàn ái, "breast cancer"); 甲状腺 (jiǎ zhuàng xiàn, "(anatomy) thyroid gland"); 前列腺 (qián liè xiàn, "prostate"); 胰腺 (yí xiàn, "pancreas"). There are over 67 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 腺 (xiàn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xiàn: 先 (beforehand), 鲜 (fresh), 闲 (idle, free), 咸 (all), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 腺 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 腺 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.