湮 (yān): (literary) to sink into oblivion, (literary) to silt up

湮 (yān) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) to sink into oblivion.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (structural) and 垔 (structural). It ranks #3667 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 湮 a dammed 垔 stream 氵; 垔 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 河 (hé, river), 海 (hǎi, sea), 洋 (yáng, ocean).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (literary) to sink into oblivion
  2. (literary) to silt up

Etymology & Origin

湮

ideographicA dammed 垔 stream 氵; 垔 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰氵垔 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
湮灭verbyān mièto sink into oblivion
湮没verbyān mòto bury
湮没无闻yān mò wú wénto pass into oblivion
3
Total compounds
100
As first character
0
As last character
0
As middle character

湮 appears in 3 compound words: 100 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

湮没无闻yān mò wú wén

to pass into oblivion

phrase

Example Sentences

爱范儿Aug 2026

《湮灭之潮》 另一款在科隆显露野心的国产游戏,是上海日蚀边缘工作室的《湮灭之潮》。

yān miè zhī cháo lìng yī kuǎn zài kē lóng xiǎn lù yě xīn de guó chǎn yóu xì , shì shàng hǎi rì shí biān yuán gōng zuò shì de yān miè zhī cháo .

*Tide of Annihilation*: Another Chinese game that showcased its ambitions at Gamescom was *Tide of Annihilation* from Shanghai’s Eclipse Edge Studio.

少数派Aug 2026

《湮灭之潮》公布最新预告 《湮灭之潮》公布最新预告。

yān miè zhī cháo gōng bù zuì xīn yù gào yān miè zhī cháo gōng bù zuì xīn yù gào .

"Tide of Oblivion" Unveils New Trailer "Tide of Oblivion" Unveils New Trailer.

爱范儿Aug 2026

除此之外,《湮灭之潮》《归唐》等项目也在持续公布新内容。

chú cǐ zhī wài , yān miè zhī cháo guī táng děng xiàng mù yě zài chí xù gōng bù xīn nèi róng .

In addition, projects such as *Tide of Oblivion* and *Return to Tang* continue to release new content.

奇客SolidotAug 2026

在量子电动力学世界中,真空并非空无一物,而是伴随虚粒子的不断产生与湮灭。

zài liàng zǐ diàn dòng lì xué shì jiè zhōng , zhēn kōng bìng fēi kōng wú yī wù , ér shì bàn suí xū lì zǐ de bù duàn chǎn shēng yǔ yān miè .

In the world of quantum electrodynamics, the vacuum is not empty; rather, it is characterized by the constant creation and annihilation of virtual particles.

中国新闻网·文化May 2026

他们的贡献却长期被湮没在历史中,待到经济陷入低迷,又无端被扣上抢夺生计的帽子。

tā men de gòng xiàn què cháng qī bèi yān méi zài lì shǐ zhōng , dài dào jīng jì xiàn rù dī mí , yòu wú duān bèi kòu shàng qiǎng duó shēng jì de mào zǐ .

Yet their contributions have long been buried in the annals of history, and when the economy slumped, they were unjustly accused of stealing people’s livelihoods.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 湮 (yān) mean in Chinese?
湮 (yān) primarily means "(literary) to sink into oblivion." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3667 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 湮 and 下?
湮 (yān) and 下 (xià) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 湮 (up) vs 下 (down).
How many strokes does 湮 have?
湮 is written with 12 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 湮?
The radical associated with 湮 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.
What are the components of 湮?
湮 is composed of: 氵 (structural), 垔 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵垔 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 湮?
Common words with 湮 include: 湮灭 (yān miè, "to sink into oblivion"); 湮没 (yān mò, "to bury"); 湮没无闻 (yān mò wú wén, "to pass into oblivion"). There are over 3 compound words containing this character.
Is 湮 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 湮 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 湮 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.