How to Write 镧 (lán) — Meaning “Lanthanum”

Imagine a metal gate (钅) with a lantern (阑) hanging from it, because "lan" sounds like "lantern" and lanthanum is a silvery metal. Visualize the lantern glowing inside the gate to connect the metal radical with the sound.

Pay attention to the right side 阑: it has a door frame (门) enclosing the components 東 (east) – make sure the 门 wraps around them neatly. The left radical 钅 must be narrower than the right side, with the last horizontal stroke of 钅 lining up with the middle of 阑.

镧 (lán, lanthanum) uses the phonetic 阑, while 镆 (mò) uses 莫 and means a type of metal (often molybdenum in old contexts), and 镇 (zhèn) contains 真 and means "town" or "to press." Visually, 镧 has a door frame element (门) inside, unlike the others.

镧 is a specialized character used mainly in chemistry to refer to the element lanthanum (atomic number 57). It appears in terms like 镧系 (lanthanide series) and 氧化镧 (lanthanum oxide), and is not common in daily life outside scientific contexts.

Common words containing 镧 include: 镧系 (lán xì) — Lanthanide series; 镧元素 (lán yuán sù) — Lanthanum element; 氧化镧 (yǎng huà lán) — Lanthanum oxide.