How to Write 掂 (diān) — Meaning “to weigh in the hand”

Imagine you are in a shop (店) and you pick up a fruit with your hand (扌) to weigh it in your palm. The action of bouncing it up and down lightly to feel its weight is exactly what 掂 means.

Start with the horizontal stroke of 扌, then the vertical hook, and the final short lift stroke. The right part 店 has a dot on top, then a horizontal line under it, and the bottom is a square-like structure (广 with 占); make sure the hand radical is narrower than the right part. Common mistakes include making the hand radical too wide or forgetting the top dot of 店.

掂 uses the hand radical 扌 on the left and means "to weigh in hand". 拜 uses two hands (one on each side) and means "to worship" or "to bow". 括 also has 扌 but has a different right part (舌 instead of 店) and means "to include" or "to enclose". Visually, 掂's right side is 店 (a shop), while 括's right side is 舌 (tongue).

掂 is used in everyday conversation when you physically pick up an object to estimate its weight, like 掂掂这个西瓜 (weigh this watermelon in your hand). It is also used figuratively in 掂量 (diān liang) to mean "to consider carefully" or "to weigh options". This character appears in northern Chinese dialects more often, but is understood across Mandarin regions.

Common words containing 掂 include: 掂量 (diān liáng) — to weigh in the hand; to estimate; 掂掂 (diān diān) — to weigh something in one's hand; 掂掇 (diān duō) — to weigh up; to consider.