砚 (硯)
yàn
Pinyin

Definition

砚 (硯)
 - 
yàn
  1. ink-stone

Character Decomposition

Related Words (7)

砚
yàn
  1. 1 ink-stone
砚山
Yàn shān
  1. 1 Yanshan county in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture 文山壯族苗族自治州|文山壮族苗族自治州[Wén shān Zhuàng zú Miáo zú zì zhì zhōu], Yunnan
砚池
yàn chí
  1. 1 (concave) ink stone or ink slab
砚石
yàn shí
  1. 1 ink stone
  2. 2 ink slab
砚台
yàn tái
  1. 1 ink stone
  2. 2 ink slab
  3. 3 classifier: 方 fāng

Idioms (4)

涤砚
dí yàn
  1. 1 to wash an ink-slab
  2. 2 to prepare for study (idiom)
焚砚
fén yàn
  1. 1 to destroy one's ink-slab
  2. 2 to write no more because others write so much better (idiom)
砚田之食
yàn tián zhī shí
  1. 1 to make a living by writing (idiom)
磨穿铁砚
mó chuān tiě yàn
  1. 1 to grind one's way through an ink stone
  2. 2 to persevere in a difficult task (idiom)
  3. 3 to study diligently (idiom)

Sample Sentences

笔、墨、纸、砚
bǐ 、mò 、zhǐ 、yàn
Pen, Ink, Paper, and Ink Stone
Go to Lesson 
开始写字之前，把整个笔毛都沾上墨汁，然后在砚台的边边上把多余的墨汁弄掉。
kāishǐ xiězì zhīqián ，bǎ zhěnggè bǐ máo dōu zhān shàng mòzhī ，ránhòu zài yàntái de biān biān shàng bǎ duōyú de mòzhī nòng diào 。
Before you start writing, you should cover the whole brush with ink. Then remove the excess ink on the edge of the ink stone.
Go to Lesson 
哈哈，是是，我错了我错了，诶，你这笔墨纸砚文房四宝都备齐了，是要开工作室？这些字画都是谁作的啊？
hāhā ，shì shì ，wǒ cuò le wǒ cuò le ，èi ，nǐ zhè bǐmò zhǐ yàn wénfángsìbǎo dōu bèi qí le ，shì yào kāi gōngzuòshì ？zhèxiē zìhuà dōu shì shéi zuò de ā ？
Ha ha, yes, yes, I'm in the wrong, I'm in the wrong. Ah, you've got the four essentials for calligraphy: the pen, the ink, paper and ink stone, are you starting a workshop? Whose are all these character drawings?
Go to Lesson 
知道，刚才去城西的花鸟市场逛了逛，顺便就买了笔、墨、纸、砚，贵了点，不过方便。
zhīdào ，gāngcái qù chéngxī de huāniǎoshìchǎng guàng le guàng ，shùnbiàn jiù mǎi le bǐ 、mò 、zhǐ 、yàn ，guì le diǎnr ，búguò fāngbiàn 。
Yes, I just went to the flower and bird market in the west of the city and bought a brush, ink, paper and an ink stone. It was all a little expensive, but quite convenient.
Go to Lesson