蒸 (zhēng): to steam
蒸 (zhēng) is a Chinese character meaning “to steam.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (structural) and 烝 (structural). It ranks #2288 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 蒸 steam 烝 provides the meaning and sound. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 草 (cǎo, grass), 花 (huā, flower), 茶 (chá, tea).
Definitions
- to steam
Etymology & Origin
ideographicSteam 烝 provides the meaning and sound
Decomposition: ⿱艹烝 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 蒸 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 蒸发verb | zhēng fā | to evaporate |
| 蒸汽noun | zhēng qì | steam |
| 蒸蒸日上phrase | zhēng zhēng rì shàng | becoming more prosperous with each passing day |
| 蒸气noun | zhēng qì | vapor |
| 蒸馏verb | zhēng liú | to distill |
| 水蒸气noun | shuǐ zhēng qì | vapor |
| 熏蒸 | xūn zhēng | (of sultry weather) to be stifling |
| 蒸笼noun | zhēng lóng | steamer basket (e.g. for dim sum) |
| 蒸锅noun | zhēng guō | steamer |
| 蒸汽机noun | zhēng qì jī | steam engine |
| 清蒸verb | qīng zhēng | steamed in broth |
| 蒸馏水noun | zhēng liú shuǐ | distilled water |
| 蒸饺noun | zhēng jiǎo | steamed dumpling |
| 蒸馏器 | zhēng liú qì | still (i.e. distilling apparatus) |
| 蒸腾verb | zhēng téng | (of a vapor etc) to rise |
蒸 appears in 32 compound words: 78 as the first character, 9 as the last, and 13 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 蒸 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
蒸鱼的时候要在水开后放入，大火蒸八分钟即可。
Zhēng yú de shíhou yào zài shuǐ kāi hòu fàngrù, dàhuǒ zhēng bā fēnzhōng jí kě.
When steaming fish, put it in after the water boils and steam on high heat for eight minutes.
...! Anthropic控用2.4萬假帳號蒸餾Claude模型技術
. . . ! kòng yòng . 萬 jiǎ 帳 號 zhēng 餾 mó xíng jì 術
Anthropic users distill Claude model technology using 24,000 fake accounts
...岸開放式銀主盤腰斬一半 215萬易手6年蒸發217萬 投資客撈底料每月收租9,00...
. . . àn 開 fàng shì 銀 zhǔ 盤 yāo 斬 yī bàn 萬 yì shǒu nián zhēng 發 萬 tóu 資 kè 撈 de liào měi yuè shōu zū , . . .
Open-market bank-owned properties in Kowloon Bay slashed in half HK$2.15 million transaction sees HK$2.17 million value evaporate over 6 years Investor snaps up bargain, now collecting monthly rent of HK$9,000...
新华全媒头条|丙午新春,看见一个蒸蒸日上的中国
xīn huá quán méi tóu tiáo bǐng wǔ xīn chūn , kàn jiàn yī gè zhēng zhēng rì shàng de zhōng guó
Xinhua All-Media Headlines | Spring Festival of the Year of the Horse: Witnessing a Thriving China
Anthropic指控三家中国公司“蒸馏”Claude模型
zhǐ kòng sān jiā zhōng guó gōng sī zhēng 馏 mó xíng
Anthropic accuses three Chinese companies of "distilling" the Claude model.
Anthropic稱中國AI公司「蒸餾」Claude以改進自身模型
稱 zhōng 國 gōng sī zhēng 餾 yǐ gǎi 進 zì shēn mó xíng
Anthropic claims Chinese AI companies "distilled" Claude to improve their own models
水沸腾后变为蒸汽。
Shuǐ fèiténg hòu biànwéi zhēngqì.
Water steams when it boils.
叫个清蒸鲈鱼好呢，还是蚝油牛肉好？
Jiào gè qīngzhēng lúyú hǎo ne, háishi háoyóu niúròu hǎo?
Should we order the steamed perch or the beef with oyster sauce?
当水被加热时，水汽蒸发。
Dāng shuǐ bèi jiārè shí, shuǐqì zhēngfā.
Water evaporates when it is heated.
蒸粗麦粉是我最喜欢的阿尔及利亚菜。
Zhēngcūmàifěn shì wǒ zuì xǐhuan de ā'ěrjílìyà cài.
Couscous is my favorite Algerian food.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 蒸 (zhēng) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 蒸 (zhēng)?
Is 蒸 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 蒸 with real-time feedback
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