衔

啣
xián
#2,323 most
frequent character
variant of 銜|衔[xian2]

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

衔 xián has 钅 metal as meaning and 行 xíng as sound, though the sound is not clear today. The metal part points to a horse's bridle bit, the first sense. From holding a bit came 'to hold in the mouth,' then to harbor feelings, and later rank or title.

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Same Characters, Different Readings

衔xián
variant of 銜|衔[xian2]
衔xián
bit (of a bridle), to hold in the mouth

Homophones

HSK 4
咸xián
salty
HSK 6
嫌xián
to dislike, suspicion, resentment
HSK 6
弦xián
bow string, string of musical instrument
闲xián
not busy, idle, unoccupied, leisure
贤xián
worthy or virtuous person

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