龙

CHARACTER · SOURCE RECORD

龙 · lóng

dragon; symbolic of emperor

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

dragon; symbolic of emperor

Mandarin: lóng
Cantonese: lung4

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode: U+9F99
Radical: 龙 · 212
Strokes: 5 · Unihan
Residual: 0

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

5 strokes

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿸⿺𠂇丶𠤎(GHT)

⿺𡯃丶(X)

How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

𠂇丶𠤎

Words & connections

Words using 龙

人力接龍rén lì jiē lóngbucket brigade; human chain 大排長龍dà pái cháng lóngto form a long queue (idiom); (of cars) to be bumper to bumper 畫龍點睛huà lóng diǎn jīngto paint a dragon and dot in the eyes (idiom); fig. to add the vital finishing touch; the crucial point that brings the subject to life; a few words to clinch the point 葉公好龍Yè Gōng hào lónglit. Lord Ye's passion for dragons (idiom); fig. to pretend to be fond of sth while actually fearing it; ostensible fondness of sth one really fears 龍生九子lóng shēng jiǔ zǐlit. the dragon has nine sons (idiom); fig. all kinds of characters; good and bad intermingled; It takes all sorts to make a world.龍的傳人lóng de chuán rénDescendants of the Dragon (i.e. Han Chinese)保麗龍bǎo lì lóngstyrofoam 豬婆龍zhū pó lóngChinese alligator (Alligator sinensis)Search current dictionary records ↗

Character connections

拢垄咙庞宠胧聋袭笼陇茏泷珑栊砻眬龚龛

18 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

History & distinctions

Related forms

龍

Unihan traditional/simplified variant properties. Conversion may depend on context.

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗

Retained Unihan properties

kMandarin: lóng
kCantonese: lung4
kDefinition: dragon; symbolic of emperor
kTotalStrokes: 5
kRSUnicode: 212'.0
kTraditionalVariant: U+9F8D
kTGH: 2013:221

Readings across dictionaries

Xiandai Hanyu · 1983: lóng 0730.110
Tongyong Guifan · 2013: lóng 229.160
Reading counts · XDHYPLCD: lóng(76)

Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Kangxi positions: 1537.251
Cangjie: IKP
Four-corner: 4301

Unicode 17 · Unicode License V3 · field guide & exact source ↗

Sentences in context

Find examples using 龙 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Save to a list & build an Anki card ↗ · Mandarin tones ↗ · Cantonese tones ↗

Structure & connections

0.10

395dictionary records using 龙22forms using this shape0attributed sound links

⿸ Upper-left enclosure

⿺ Lower-left enclosure

𠂇

丶

𠤎

Shape description
(𠂇 wraps around 丶 from the lower left) wraps around 𠤎 from the upper left · the shape used in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
Source notation ^⿸⿺𠂇丶𠤎$(GHT)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 395 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗

Retained descriptions & scope

^⿸⿺𠂇丶𠤎$(GHT)

^⿺𡯃丶$(X)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.