How to Write 镴 (là) — Meaning “solder; pewter”

Think of 镴 as a metal (钅) that is soft and melts like wax (蜡, là). The right side looks similar to 蜡, so imagine "metal wax" that is used for soldering or making pewter objects.

The left radical 钅 is written with 5 strokes in the normal order. The right side has many horizontal strokes — be careful to keep them evenly spaced and not too cramped. A common mistake is to write the right side too tall or to confuse the stroke order of the complex component.

镴 (là) means solder or pewter, while 镬 (huò) is a large wok or cooking pot, and 镭 (léi) is the radioactive element radium. Visually, 镴 has a complex right side with many horizontal lines, 镬 has a simpler right side containing 蒦, and 镭 has 雷 on the right.

镴 is not common in daily conversation, but it appears in the word 锡镴 (xī là, pewter) and the idiom 镴枪头 (là qiāng tóu), meaning someone who looks impressive but has no real ability. This idiom comes from the novel "Water Margin", where a pewter spearhead looks shiny but is weak.

Common words containing 镴 include: 镴枪头 (là qiāng tóu) — pewter spearhead (metaphor for someone impressive but weak); 锡镴 (xī là) — Pewter; 镴器 (là qì) — pewterware.