How to Write 睑 (jiǎn) — Meaning “Eyelid.”

Picture an eye on the left (目) and a person's face on the right (佥) with a line across the middle — that line is the eyelid closing over the eye. The sound is like 'jian' as in 'chin' — think of how your eyelid touches your chin when you squint.

Write the left radical 目 first, with four short horizontal strokes inside, making it slightly narrower than the right part. The right part 佥 starts with 人 on top, then two horizontal lines and a mouth (口) at the bottom — be careful not to add extra strokes or confuse it with 俭.

睑 (jiǎn) means 'eyelid' and is used in modern medical terms like 眼睑. 眔 is an ancient character that is extremely rare and not used in modern Chinese, so you will almost never see it. 眙 (yí or chì) means 'to stare' or 'to look directly,' while 睑 specifically refers to the physical eyelid, not the action of looking.

睑 is almost always used in medical or anatomical contexts, such as 眼睑 (eyelid), 上睑 (upper eyelid), and 睑缘 (eyelid margin). It is not a common word in everyday conversation, but appears in health articles, doctor visits, or beauty discussions about eyelid surgeries like double eyelid procedures.

Common words containing 睑 include: 眼睑 (yǎn jiǎn) — eyelid; 上睑 (shàng jiǎn) — Upper eyelid; 睑缘 (jiǎn yuán) — Eyelid margin; the edge of the eyelid..