龍

contributes the sense of dragon · Kangxi radical 212

contributes the sense of dragon, and in most characters simply supplies the sound "long"

龍 began as a picture of a long serpentine beast seen from the side: a big head with a crest or horn at the front, a gaping mouth, and a body that trails off and curls downward behind it. The modern form still splits along those lines — the left column (立 over 月) is the compressed head, crest on top and open jaw below, while the right side, a bent stroke with three short bars crossing it, is the curling body with the ridge or fins along its back. Because the whole graph is bulky, in compounds it is often squeezed narrow (籠, 壟) or flattened under a roof (寵, 龐), but the head-left, body-right arrangement stays visible.

龍 at a glance

Meaning

contributes the sense of dragon

Strokes

16

Characters

16

Role

Usually contributes sound

Kangxi radical

212

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