How to Write 嵌 (qiàn) — Meaning “To embed / to inlay”

Imagine a mountain (山) with a precious gem embedded into its side. The bottom part 欠 looks like a person bending down to carefully insert the gem, reminding you that 嵌 means 'to embed'.

First write the mountain radical 山 with three strokes, keeping it narrow. Then write 欠 below: a short left-falling stroke, a horizontal, another left-falling, and finally a right-falling stroke (捺). A common mistake is making the 山 too wide, which makes the character unbalanced.

嵌 means 'to embed' and contains 欠 (to owe) below 山. 峨 means 'lofty' (like a high mountain) and has 我 on its right side. 峪 means 'valley' and has 谷 (valley) on its right. So they have different meanings and different right-side components.

You often see 嵌 in technology, like 嵌入 (embedding a video into a webpage) and in art, like 镶嵌 (inlaying gold or jewels into furniture). It is also used in everyday phrases such as 嵌在 (embedded in), for example, a diamond inlaid in a ring.

Common words containing 嵌 include: 嵌入 (qiàn rù) — To embed / to insert; 镶嵌 (xiāng qiàn) — to inlay; to embed; 嵌在 (qiàn zài) — Embedded in / inlaid in.