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).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to inlay
  2. to embed
  3. ridge

Etymology & Origin

镶

pictophoneticmetal

Decomposition: ⿰钅襄 (layout: left-right)

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verbxiāng qiànto inlay
镶边verbxiāng 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proper-nounxiāng huáng qíBordered Yellow banner or Hövööt Shar khoshuu in Xilingol League 錫林郭勒盟|锡林郭勒盟, 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qiàn
0.7483,317 co-occurrences
旗qí
0.6275,258 co-occurrences
满mǎn
0.5581,954 co-occurrences
黄huáng
0.5572,562 co-occurrences
蓝lán
0.5441,000 co-occurrences
嫁jià
0.477460 co-occurrences
红hóng
0.4771,020 co-occurrences
汉hàn
0.457954 co-occurrences
钻zuān
0.435100 co-occurrences
边biān
0.430668 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.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

视频的另一端,他正用镊子和角刀,将米粒大小的蛋壳碎片镶嵌在深色漆面上。

shì pín de lìng yī duān , tā zhèng yòng 镊 zǐ hé jiǎo dāo , jiāng mǐ lì dà xiǎo de dàn qiào suì piàn xiāng kǎn zài shēn sè qī miàn shàng .

On the other end of the video, he was using tweezers and a scalpel to inlay rice-grain-sized fragments of eggshell into the dark lacquered surface.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

这朵镶嵌在意大利歌剧殿堂的中国之花,也是世界舞台艺术的白月光。

zhè duǒ xiāng kǎn zài yì dà lì gē jù diàn táng de zhōng guó zhī huā , yě shì shì jiè wǔ tái yì shù de bái yuè guāng .

This "Chinese flower" blooming in the hallowed halls of Italian opera is also a shining star in the world of the performing arts.

IT之家May 2026

镶嵌于座舱控制区域的紫色宝石,令高级珠宝化作指尖可触、眼底可见的感官美学。

xiāng kǎn yú zuò cāng kòng zhì qū yù de zǐ sè bǎo shí , lìng gāo jí zhū bǎo huà zuò zhǐ jiān kě chù , yǎn de kě jiàn de gǎn guān měi xué .

The purple gemstone set into the cockpit control panel transforms high-end jewelry into a sensory experience—tangible to the touch and visible to the eye.

中国新闻网·文化May 2026

展览现场的花丝镶嵌工艺展品。

zhǎn lǎn xiàn chǎng de huā sī xiāng kǎn gōng yì zhǎn pǐn .

Exhibits featuring filigree and inlay techniques at the exhibition.

中国新闻网·文化May 2026

图为“镶嵌钻石的蒂亚拉冠冕”,材质包含铂金、银、金、钻石。

tú wéi xiāng kǎn zuān shí de dì yà lā guàn 冕 , cái zhì bāo hán 铂 jīn , yín , jīn , zuān shí .

The photo shows a "diamond-encrusted tiara," made of platinum, silver, gold, and diamonds.

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

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 钅 (metal) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced xiāng

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: 想 (to think, to want), 相 (mutual, appearance), 向 (towards), 像 (to resemble), 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.

Practice writing 镶 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken 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.