How to Write 镫 (dèng) — Meaning “Stirrup”

Picture a metal stirrup shaped like a small ladder that helps you "登" (climb) onto a horse. The left side is metal (钅) and the right side is climb (登), so you can remember "metal climb = stirrup".

Write the left radical 钅 with three strokes: two short horizontal lines then a vertical hook. The right part 登 has 12 strokes; start with the top 癶 (two dots, then a horizontal with two downward strokes) and then write 豆 below. A common mistake is forgetting the upper-left dot in 癶.

镫 (stirrup) has the right side 登, while 镆 (a type of ancient sword) has 莫, and 镇 (town or to suppress) has 真. Visually, the right components are completely different, so you can tell them apart by looking at the part after the metal radical.

镫 appears in words like 马镫 (stirrup) for horse riding equipment and 镫骨 (stapes) for the tiny stirrup-shaped bone in the middle ear. It is not a common daily character but is used in historical writing about ancient cavalry or in medical anatomy terms.

Common words containing 镫 include: 马镫 (mǎ dèng) — Stirrup; 镫骨 (dèng gǔ) — Stapes (ear bone); 镫子 (dèng zi) — Stirrup.