眼 yǎn

眼 simplified

眼 traditional · same

yǎn

eye · glance · small opening · (measure word) one look at something

HSK 2 笔画 11 部首目 (eye) 声调第三声 (dipping)

笔顺 bǐshùn · Stroke order

Click the character to replay. Press Try drawing to write it yourself.

字源 zìyuán Etymology & Structure

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

眼 = 目 (mù, eye) + 艮 (gěn). A pictophonetic compound: 目 is the semantic component (the radical for everything having to do with eyes and seeing), and the right-hand element supplies the sound. The radical 目 mù is itself the older, literary word for "eye" — the one preserved in classical compounds and as the radical in 看 kàn (look), 见 jiàn (see), 睡 shuì (sleep, "eyes drooping"), 瞎 xiā (blind), 瞪 dèng (glare). 眼 is the newer, everyday colloquial word — the one a child learns first.

The character carries three distinct semantic lives:

1. The body part. The eye itself, the sense organ. The everyday compound 眼睛 yǎnjing (eye + 睛 jīng "eyeball") is the standard word for "eye(s)" in spoken Chinese. Single 眼 is mostly bound — it appears in compounds rather than alone.
2. The act of looking. 眼 functions as the measure word for a glance: 看一眼 "to take one look," 瞪一眼 "to shoot a glare." The unit of one application of the eye.
3. A small opening. By the natural metaphor of "the eye of …", 眼 names any small hole or aperture: 针眼 zhēnyǎn the eye of a needle, 泉眼 quányǎn the source of a spring, 字眼 zìyǎn the key word in a phrase, 心眼 xīnyǎn the "eye of the heart" — wits, judgment.

The figurative range matters more than the literal one for adult vocabulary. 眼光 yǎnguāng "vision, taste, judgment," 眼界 yǎnjiè "horizon, range of experience," 眼力 yǎnlì "the strength of one's seeing" — Chinese has built an entire vocabulary of discernment on top of the body-part word, the way English has built "insight" and "vision" on top of seeing. Knowing this layer is what separates beginner from intermediate Chinese: 眼 is rarely just an organ.

构词 gòucí Word-Formation Patterns

构词规律 gòucí guīlǜ · Four Templates 眼 + body part → 眼睛 eye-eyeball (eye) · 眼皮 eye-skin (eyelid) · 眼泪 eye-tear (tears) · 眼神 eye-spirit (gaze, expression in the eyes)
眼 + capacity word (figurative seeing) → 眼光 eye-light (vision, taste) · 眼界 eye-boundary (horizon of experience) · 眼力 eye-strength (perceptiveness) · 心眼 heart-eye (wits, judgment)
thing + 眼 (small opening) → 针眼 needle-eye · 泉眼 spring-eye (water source) · 字眼 word-eye (key word) · 节骨眼 critical-juncture
眼 as measure word → 看一眼 see one-eye (one glance) · 瞪一眼 glare one-eye (one glare) · 瞥一眼 piē one-eye (one glimpse)

眼睛 yǎnjing The Eye as Organ — The Literal Eye

眼睛 yǎnjing eye(s); the eyes as organ

N 名词 míngcí

眼 yǎn + 睛 jīng (eyeball; pupil). The standard everyday word for "eyes" in spoken Chinese. Single 眼 alone almost never serves this role; for "her eyes are beautiful" you say 她的眼睛很美 not 她的眼很美. The 睛 is light and unstressed in pronunciation.

他的眼睛又大又亮。

Tā de yǎnjing yòu dà yòu liàng.

His eyes are big and bright.

闭上眼睛休息一下。

Bì shàng yǎnjing xiūxí yīxià.

Close your eyes and rest a moment.

眼神 yǎnshén the look in one's eyes; gaze; expression

N 名词 míngcí

眼 yǎn + 神 shén (spirit; expression). Not the eyes themselves but the spirit visible in them — the look one gives, the expression of feeling that the eyes carry. A high-frequency word in fiction and dialogue: 他的眼神很温柔 "the look in his eyes was very gentle"; 用眼神告诉我 "tell me with your eyes."

她的眼神里有一丝忧伤。

Tā de yǎnshén li yǒu yī sī yōushāng.

There was a trace of sadness in her gaze.

眼泪 yǎnlèi tears

N 名词 míngcí

眼 yǎn + 泪 lèi (tear). Standard word for tears. 流眼泪 liú yǎnlèi "to shed tears"; 擦眼泪 cā yǎnlèi "to wipe away tears." The classical/literary equivalent is just 泪 alone or 泪水 lèishuǐ.

她忍不住流下了眼泪。

Tā rěn bù zhù liú xià le yǎnlèi.

She couldn't help shedding tears.

眼皮 yǎnpí eyelid

N 名词 míngcí

眼 yǎn + 皮 pí (skin). Eyelid. The colloquial idiom 眼皮底下 yǎnpí dǐxià "right under one's eyelids" means "right in front of one, in plain sight" — usually used to describe something missed or stolen despite being right there.

东西在你眼皮底下被拿走了。

Dōngxi zài nǐ yǎnpí dǐxià bèi názǒu le.

The thing was taken right out from under your nose.

看一眼 kàn yī yǎn The Eye as Glance — Measure-Word Use

语法洞见 yǔfǎ dòngjiàn · Grammatical Insight

One of the most useful and high-frequency uses of 眼 is as the measure word for a single act of looking. The pattern is "verb-of-seeing + 一 + 眼":

看一眼 kàn yī yǎn — to take one look
瞅一眼 chǒu yī yǎn — to give a quick glance
瞄一眼 miáo yī yǎn — to peek
瞪一眼 dèng yī yǎn — to shoot a single glare
瞥一眼 piē yī yǎn — to throw a brief glance

The 眼 here is not "an eye" as object but a unit of looking: the discrete event in which the eye lands on something. English has no clean equivalent — "give it a look" comes closest. The structure is so productive that any verb of seeing can take 眼 as its measure: 多看几眼 "take a few more looks," 一眼就认出来 "recognize it at a single glance."

针眼 zhēnyǎn Eye-as-Opening — Small Holes

针眼 zhēnyǎn the eye of a needle; (medical) sty

N 名词 míngcí

针 zhēn (needle) + 眼. The hole in a sewing needle — the same metaphor English uses. Also a colloquial term for a sty on the eyelid (the small swelling looking like a tiny eye).

泉眼 quányǎn the eye of a spring; the place where spring water emerges

N 名词 míngcí

泉 quán (spring) + 眼. The mouth of a natural spring — the small opening from which water bubbles up. Common in classical Chinese poetry and travel writing.

字眼 zìyǎn the key word; the word one fastens on

N 名词 míngcí

字 zì (character; word) + 眼. The eye of the phrase — the single word that carries the weight, that you pivot a sentence on, that an opponent picks at. 抠字眼 kōu zìyǎn "to pick at the wording" (often pejoratively, like English "splitting hairs over phrasing").

别老是抠字眼。

Bié lǎoshì kōu zìyǎn.

Stop nitpicking the wording.

节骨眼 jiégǔyǎn critical juncture; the pivot point of a situation

N 名词 míngcí

节 jié (joint) + 骨 gǔ (bone) + 眼. The eye at the joint of the bone — the precise small spot at which a thing turns. Colloquial; almost always paired with 上 in 节骨眼上 "at the critical juncture."

在这个节骨眼上，我们不能犯错。

Zài zhège jiégǔyǎn shàng, wǒmen bù néng fàn cuò.

At this critical juncture, we can't afford mistakes.

眼光 yǎnguāng Vision & Discernment — The Figurative Eye

眼光 yǎnguāng vision; taste; judgment; the discerning eye

N 名词 míngcí

眼 yǎn + 光 guāng (light). Literally eye-light. The kind of seeing a person has — their taste in art, their judgment in business, their ability to spot a good investment or a good partner. 有眼光 yǒu yǎnguāng "to have a good eye"; 没眼光 "to have poor judgment"; 长远的眼光 "long-term vision."

他很有商业眼光。

Tā hěn yǒu shāngyè yǎnguāng.

He has a real eye for business.

你的眼光真不错。

Nǐ de yǎnguāng zhēn bù cuò.

You have great taste.

眼界 yǎnjiè horizon (of experience); breadth of one's outlook

N 名词 míngcí

眼 yǎn + 界 jiè (boundary; realm). The boundary of what one's eye has taken in — how widely one has seen, traveled, read, lived. 开阔眼界 kāikuò yǎnjiè "to broaden one's horizons" is one of the standard reasons given in Chinese for travel, study abroad, and reading widely.

出国留学可以开阔眼界。

Chū guó liúxué kěyǐ kāikuò yǎnjiè.

Studying abroad can broaden one's horizons.

心眼 xīnyǎn(r) wits; smarts; (also) intent, motive of the heart

N 名词 míngcí

心 xīn (heart) + 眼. The eye of the heart — the inner faculty of judgment and quick-wittedness. 心眼多 xīnyǎn duō "to have many wits" (clever, calculating, or scheming, depending on tone). 心眼好 xīnyǎn hǎo "to have a good heart-eye" (kind-hearted, well-intentioned). One of the most context-sensitive words in spoken Chinese.

这孩子心眼好。

Zhè háizi xīnyǎn hǎo.

This kid has a good heart.

他心眼太多，不好相处。

Tā xīnyǎn tài duō, bù hǎo xiāngchǔ.

He's too calculating; he's hard to get along with.

眼力 yǎnlì perceptiveness; discerning power; visual acuity

N 名词 míngcí

眼 yǎn + 力 lì (strength). The strength of one's seeing — both literally (sharpness of vision) and figuratively (judgment, ability to spot quality or fakery). The skilled antique-dealer is praised for 眼力 in detecting forgeries.

成语 chéngyǔ Idioms & Set Phrases

画龙点睛 huà lóng diǎn jīng drawing a dragon and dotting the eye — the small finishing touch that brings the whole alive From a Tang anecdote: the painter Zhang Sengyou painted dragons but refused to add eyes; when pressed, he dotted the eyes of two — and they immediately flew off the wall. The dot is what brings the form to life. Used today for the small but decisive move that makes a piece of work click. Note: this chengyu uses 睛 jīng (eyeball, the second character of 眼睛) rather than 眼 itself, but its semantic field is the eye.

一眼万年 yī yǎn wàn nián a single glance, ten thousand years — a look that lasts forever Lit: one-glance-ten-thousand-years. Modern romantic register, especially in song lyrics and pop fiction: the glance at first meeting that settles a lifetime. Builds on 眼 as the measure word for a single act of looking.

有眼无珠 yǒu yǎn wú zhū to have eyes but no pupils — to fail to recognize what is right in front of you Lit: have-eyes-without-pearls (珠 = pearl, here pupil). Said of someone who has missed an obvious quality or opportunity — failed to spot a talent, dismissed a worthy person. Often self-deprecating: 我真是有眼无珠 "I had eyes but couldn't see."

眼花缭乱 yǎn huā liáo luàn eyes blurring, vision tangling — dazzled, overwhelmed by abundance Lit: eye-flower-tangle-disorder. Used for the sensory overload of a busy market, a fireworks display, a dazzling performance — too much beauty or activity to take in at once. Almost always positive in tone (the overload of richness, not chaos).

大开眼界 dà kāi yǎn jiè to greatly open one's horizons — to have one's eyes opened Lit: greatly-open-eye-boundary. The standard phrase for the experience of suddenly seeing something new and broadening one's outlook. Said after a trip, a museum visit, a striking piece of work.

记忆法 jìyìfǎ · Master Retention Image

Picture 眼 as the everyday eye alongside its literary twin 目: 目 is the eye in dictionaries and chengyu, the radical that anchors all the seeing-words; 眼 is the eye your friend points to when their contact lens slips. The character keeps the radical 目 visible on its left flank — a reminder that 眼 is the colloquial overlay sitting on top of the older word, not a replacement for it.

From this body-part anchor, 眼 walks outward in the same way 脚 (foot) does: the eye of a needle (针眼), the eye of a spring (泉眼), the eye of a phrase (字眼). And the figurative climb is the steepest part of the character's range: 眼光 (vision, taste), 眼界 (horizon), 心眼 (wits, intent of the heart). The single character holds the whole arc from this organ in my face to the kind of judgment a lifetime of seeing has trained me into.