Silk Radical (纟) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
纟 is the silk radical. It appears in 49 of the most common Chinese characters — these 12 are the ones worth learning first, and the worksheet below gives every one of them a pinyin header, a stroke-by-stroke model and blank Tianzige grids to copy into.
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What does 纟 mean?
Silk radical · 糸 sī · 6 strokes · silk; thread
As a radical it is called 绞丝旁 (jiǎo sī páng).
It usually appears on the left (纟), or at the bottom (糸). The Origin column below shows what each character's parts do — many take their meaning from the radical, some take their sound from the other half.
糸 itself: A twisted strand of silk
12 common characters with 纟
Ranked by how often they appear in real written Chinese. Every character links to its own page with a stroke-order animation and example words.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 经 | jīng | through, by means of; by way of, via | 工 supplies the sound |
| 给 | gěi | to | 合 supplies the sound |
| 结 | jié | form; settle; tie, knit, knot; bear (fruit) | 吉 supplies the sound |
| 系 | xì | (academic) department; system, series | thread |
| 统 | tǒng | to gather; to unite; to unify; whole | 充 supplies the sound |
| 组 | zǔ | group; set | 且 supplies the sound |
| 级 | jí | [measure word for levels, grades and ranks, etc.]; [measure word for stairs, and steps, etc.] | 及 supplies the sound |
| 紧 | jǐn | tight | silk |
| 线 | xiàn | line; thread | 戋 supplies the sound |
| 终 | zhōng | finally | 冬 supplies the sound |
| 红 | hóng | red; popular | 工 supplies the sound |
| 续 | xù | to continue; to replenish | 卖 supplies the sound |
Related Radicals
- 穴Cave radical · xué9 common characters · a cave; a hole
- 立Stand radical · lì14 common characters · to stand
- 米Rice radical · mǐ16 common characters · rice
- 耳Ear radical · ěr8 common characters · ear
- 舌Tongue radical · shé10 common characters · tongue
- 艮Blunt radical · gèn13 common characters · blunt, stubborn; a mountain pass
Create Your Own Chinese Worksheet
The download above is fixed; the generator is not. Turn any character list, sentence or textbook section into a printable worksheet — grid style, paper size and header are yours to pick.