長
contributes the sense of length · Kangxi radical 168
contributes the sense of length, growing long, and by extension stretching or extending
The oldest form of 長 shows a person in profile with a mane of long, unbound hair streaming from the head, sometimes leaning on a stick — an old person whose hair has been growing a long time. In the modern character the short strokes across the top are what is left of that flowing hair, the long horizontal is the body line, and the sweeping stroke down to the right is the leg and cane. Because the picture was about hair that had grown long, the character came to mean length in space and long duration in time, and in compounds like 張 and 漲 it adds the idea of stretching or swelling out.
長 at a glance
- Meaning
- contributes the sense of length
- Strokes
- 8
- Characters
- 6
- Role
- Contributes sound
- Kangxi radical
- 168
Frequently asked questions
What does the component 長 mean?
長 means "contributes the sense of length". In the characters that contain it, it contributes sound.
How many Chinese characters contain 長?
6 characters in this dictionary contain 長.
Is 長 a radical?
Yes — 長 is Kangxi radical 168, one of the 214 traditional indexing radicals used to organise Chinese dictionaries.
How many strokes does 長 have?
長 is written in 8 strokes.