镶 (xiāng): to inlay, to embed, ridge

镶 (xiāng) is a Chinese character meaning “to inlay.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (semantic) and 襄 (phonetic). It ranks #2731 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 镶 metal. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 钱 (qián, money), 错 (cuò, wrong, mistake), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell).

Native pronunciation
HSK 7-9Radical: 钅 metal22 strokesFrequency #2731钅 semantic襄 phonetic

Definitions

  1. to inlay
  2. to embed
  3. ridge

Etymology & Origin

镶

pictophoneticmetal

Decomposition: ⿰钅襄 (layout: left-right)

Components:钅semantic襄phonetic

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
镶嵌xiāng qiànto inlay
镶边xiāng biānedge
镶牙xiāng yáto have a false tooth set in
正镶白旗zhèng xiāng bái qíPlain and Bordered White banner or Shuluun Hövööt Chagaan khoshuu in Xilingol League 錫林郭勒盟|锡林郭勒盟[Xi1 lin2 guo1 le4 Me...
镶金xiāng jīngilded
镶黄旗xiāng huáng qíBordered Yellow banner or Hövööt Shar khoshuu in Xilingol League 錫林郭勒盟|锡林郭勒盟[Xi1 lin2 guo1 le4 Meng2], Inner Mongolia
6
Total compounds
83
As first character
0
As last character
17
As middle character

镶 appears in 6 compound words: 83 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 17 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 镶 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

嵌kǎn
0.7469,936 co-occurrences
旗qí
0.63615,774 co-occurrences
满mǎn
0.5665,862 co-occurrences
黄huáng
0.5657,686 co-occurrences
蓝lán
0.5523,000 co-occurrences
嫁jià
0.4841,380 co-occurrences
红hóng
0.4843,060 co-occurrences
汉hàn
0.4642,862 co-occurrences
钻zuān
0.441300 co-occurrences
边biān
0.4362,004 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

古时候，镶币是主要的流通货币。

gǔ shí hòu , xiāng bì shì zhǔ yāo de liú tōng huò bì .

In ancient times, ingots were the primary form of currency in circulation.

Tatoeba

钻石被镶在一个金戒指上。

Zuànshí bèi xiāng zài yī gè jīn jièzhi shàng.

The diamond was set in a gold ring.

Tatoeba

宝石师傅在胸针上镶了一枚大珍珠。

Bǎoshí shīfu zài xiōngzhēn shàng xiāng le yī méi dà zhēnzhū.

The jeweler mounted a big pearl in the brooch.

Character Family

钅 Radical Family — Characters sharing the metal radical

镑bàng铲chǎn钞chāo锤chuí锻duàn钝dùn锋fēng钙gài钢gāng锅guō

Related Characters

钱qián错cuò钟zhōng铁tiě银yín金jīn针zhēn销xiāo锻duàn镜jìng

Homophones — Characters pronounced xiāng

乡xiāng相xiāng香xiāng箱xiāng响xiǎng想xiǎng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 镶 (xiāng) mean in Chinese?
镶 (xiāng) primarily means "to inlay." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2731 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 镶 and 囊?
镶 (xiāng) and 囊 (náng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 钅 vs 口 (same 襄 component).
How many strokes does 镶 have?
镶 is written with 22 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 镶?
The radical associated with 镶 is 钅 (metal). This radical appears in many characters related to metal.
What are the components of 镶?
镶 is composed of: 钅 (semantic), 襄 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰钅襄 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 镶?
Common words with 镶 include: 镶嵌 (xiāng qiàn, "to inlay"); 镶边 (xiāng biān, "edge"); 镶牙 (xiāng yá, "to have a false tooth set in"); 正镶白旗 (zhèng xiāng bái qí, "Plain and Bordered White banner or Shuluun Hövööt Chagaan khoshuu in Xilingol League 錫林郭勒盟|锡林郭勒盟[Xi1 lin2 guo1 le4 Me..."); 镶金 (xiāng jīn, "gilded"). There are over 6 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 镶 (xiāng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xiāng: 乡 (country or countryside), 相 (mutual, appearance), 香 (fragrant), 箱 (box), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 镶 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 镶 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

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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.