How to Write 苊 (è) — Meaning “Acenaphthene”

Imagine a patch of grass (艹) growing next to a dangerous cliff (厄) — the chemical acenaphthene comes from coal tar, which is hazardous. Alternatively, think of the sound "eh" (è) and picture the grass as representing organic chemistry.

Write the grass radical (艹) as 一丨丨 (three strokes) first, making it wide enough to cover the top of 厄 below. Then write 厄 with four strokes: horizontal, left-falling, horizontal hook, and vertical hook. A common mistake is shrinking the grass radical or mixing up the strokes of 厄 with similar parts like 巳.

苊 has 厄 below, 兹 has 玄 (meaning "silk") and means "now" or "thus," while 艻 has 力 (strength) and refers to a type of grass. Only 苊 is a chemical term for acenaphthene; the others have no connection to chemistry.

苊 is a specialized term in organic chemistry, appearing mainly in textbooks and research about coal tar derivatives, dyes, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. It is rarely used in everyday Chinese and will not appear in HSK vocabulary lists.

Common words containing 苊 include: 苊 (è) — Acenaphthene; 苊烯 (è xī) — Acenaphthylene; 苊醌 (è kūn) — Acenaphthenequinone.