How to Write 婴 (yīng) — Meaning “Baby; infant”

Imagine a woman (女) holding a precious shell (贝) — the shell is the baby, and the woman is the mother. This image reminds you that the character means baby. The shell on top is written first, then the woman below.

The top part 贝 should be slightly narrower than the bottom 女, and the 女 must have its three strokes carefully balanced: a sweeping left stroke, a right stroke, and a horizontal line crossing through. A common mistake is making the 贝 too wide or the 女 too small, which ruins the proportion.

婴 is a top-bottom structure (贝 on top, 女 below), while both 姘 and 姚 are left-right structures (女 on the left). Also, 婴 means baby, 姘 relates to illicit relationships, and 姚 is a surname or means "handsome." The different layouts and meanings help you distinguish them.

婴 is used in formal and medical terms for babies, such as 婴儿 (baby), 婴幼儿 (infants and toddlers), and 女婴 (baby girl). It appears in words for baby products like 婴儿车 (stroller) and 婴儿床 (crib). Culturally, babies are seen as precious, and this character carries that sense of value.

Common words containing 婴 include: 婴儿 (yīng ér) — Baby; infant; 婴幼儿 (yīng yòu ér) — Infants and toddlers.; 女婴 (nǚ yīng) — baby girl; female infant.