引

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to draw (e.g. a bow); to pull; to stretch sth; to extend; to lengthen; to involve or implicate in; to attract; to lead; to guide; to leave; to provide evidence or justification for; old unit of distance equal to 10 丈[zhang4], one-thirtieth of a km or 33.33 meters

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HSK 3.0: Level 4
Old HSK: Level 4
Strokes: 4
Radical: 弓 +1
Structure: Left–right 左右
Traditional: 引
Common rank: #624
Unicode: U+5F15

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 引 is formed

Ideographic compound (会意字)

To pull back a bow's 弓 drawstring 丨

Components 弓丨

How to remember it

draw · Heisig RSH #1014

弓 bow + walking stick

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 引

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
地心引力	dì xīn yǐn lì	Earth's gravity
引而不发	yǐn ér bù fā	to pull the bow without shooting (idiom from Mencius); ready and waiting for action; to go…
万有引力	wàn yǒu yǐn lì	(physics) universal gravitation
引水工程	yǐn shuǐ gōng chéng	water-induction engineering; irrigation engineering
引力场	yǐn lì chǎng	gravitational field
引火线	yǐn huǒ xiàn	fuse (for explosives); (fig.) proximate cause; the last straw
引力波	yǐn lì bō	gravitational wave
引体向上	yǐn tǐ xiàng shàng	chin-up (physical exercise)
引子	yǐn zi	introduction; primer; opening words
引鬼上门	yǐn guǐ shàng mén	lit. to invite the devil to one's house (idiom); fig. to introduce a potential source of t…
引水	yǐn shuǐ	to pilot a ship; to channel water; to draw water (for irrigation)
市引	shì yǐn	unit of distance equal to 33⅓ meters
公引	gōng yǐn	hectometer
引发	yǐn fā	to lead to; to trigger; to initiate; to cause; to evoke (emotions)
引力	yǐn lì	gravitation (force); attraction
引文	yǐn wén	quotation; citation
引出	yǐn chū	to extract; to draw out
单引号	dān yǐn hào	single quotes
引开	yǐn kāi	to lure away; to divert
引理	yǐn lǐ	(math.) lemma

Sound family

These characters use 引 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
引 sound part	yǐn	to pull, to stretch; to draw; to attract
蚓	yǐn	earthworm (2)