How to Write 颌 (hé) — Meaning “jaw”

Imagine a head (页) and a mouth closing (合) — the place where your mouth closes is your jaw. Visualize a head with a hand pushing the lower jaw up to close the mouth, combining 合 and 页 into 颌.

Write the left part 合 first (6 strokes: 人, then 一, then 口), then the right part 页 (6 strokes: 一, 丿, 丨, 冂, 八). Keep 合 slightly narrower than 页. A common mistake is writing the 口 inside 合 too wide or forgetting the horizontal line in 合.

颌 (hé) means jaw and uses 合 on the left; 顼 (xū) is used in names (e.g., 颛顼) and uses 工 instead. 顽 (wán) means stubborn and uses 元 on the left with 页. Unlike 颌, neither 顼 nor 顽 refers to a body part.

颌 appears mainly in medical or anatomical terms like 下颌 (lower jaw) and 上颌 (upper jaw). It is also used in dental and surgery contexts. In daily life, most Chinese speakers use the word 下巴 (xiàba) for jaw, so 颌 is more formal or technical.

Common words containing 颌 include: 下颌 (xià hé) — lower jaw; mandible; 上颌 (shàng hé) — upper jaw; maxilla; 颌骨 (hé gǔ) — jawbone.