层 (céng): to pile on top of one another, layer, stratum, floor (of a building), story
层 (céng) is a Chinese character meaning “to pile on top of one another.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 尸 (structural) and 云 (structural). It ranks #699 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 层 simplified form of 層; 曾 provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 尸 (corpse) appears in many related characters such as 尽 (jǐn, to the greatest extent), 屋 (wū, (bound form) house), 展 (zhǎn, to spread out).
Definitions
- to pile on top of one another
- layer
- stratum
- floor (of a building)
- story
Etymology & Origin
ideographicSimplified form of 層; 曾 provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿸尸云 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 层 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 层
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 上层noun | shàng céng | upper layer |
| 楼层noun | lóu céng | floor |
| 底层noun | dǐ céng | ground floor |
| 大气层noun | dà qì céng | (meteorology) the atmosphere |
| 顶层noun | dǐng céng | top floor |
| 断层verb | duàn céng | (geology) fault |
| 阶层noun | jiē céng | social class |
| 云层noun | yún céng | the clouds |
| 双层adjective | shuāng céng | double tier |
| 下层noun | xià céng | underlayer |
| 深层noun | shēn céng | deep layer |
| 表层noun | biǎo céng | surface layer |
| 层层adjective | céng céng | layer upon layer |
| 皮层noun | pí céng | cortex |
| 中层noun | zhōng céng | middle-ranking |
层 appears in 100 compound words: 16 as the first character, 70 as the last, and 14 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 层 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
(sciences) tomography; short for 電子計算機斷層掃描／电子计算机断层扫描 (“computed tomography (CT)”)
Example Sentences
这栋大楼有二十层，我的办公室在十五楼。
Zhè dòng dàlóu yǒu èrshí céng, wǒ de bàngōngshì zài shíwǔ lóu.
This building has twenty floors, and my office is on the fifteenth floor.
新春走基层丨95后潜水员与千年白鹤梁的水下之约
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng 丨 hòu qián shuǐ yuán yú qiān nián bái hè liáng de shuǐ xià zhī yāo
New Year walk grassroots 丨 95 divers and the Millennium White Crane Liang underwater appointment
新春走基层丨9年前带3岁女儿开出租车的单亲妈妈,除...
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng 丨 nián qián dài suì nǚ ér kāi chū zū chē de shàn qīn mā mā , chú . . .
The single mother who drove a cab with her 3-year-old daughter nine years ago, except...
新春走基层·驻外记者回乡手记丨在中国,感受火箭一飞...
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng zhù wài jì zhě huí xiāng shǒu jì 丨 zài zhōng guó , gǎn shòu huǒ jiàn yī fēi . . .
The new year is the first time that a foreign correspondent has returned to his hometown....
新春走基层|拉萨:年货购销两旺 高原喜迎新年
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng lā sà nián huò gòu xiāo liǎng wàng gāo yuán xǐ yíng xīn nián
New Year's walk grassroots | Lhasa: New Year's goods purchase and sale of two prosperous plateau to welcome the new year
新春走基层丨护送万千乡愁 奔赴团圆之路
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng 丨 hù sòng mò qiān xiāng chóu bēn fù tuán yuán zhī lù
New Year walk grassroots 丨 escort thousands of nostalgia to the reunion road
你去过外层空间吗？
Nǐ qù guo wàicéngkōngjiān ma?
Have you ever been to outer space?
玩具部门在第五层。
Wánjù bùmén zài dìwǔ céng.
The toy department is on the fifth floor.
强盗似乎是在上层破窗而入的。
Qiáng dào sìhū shì zài shàngcéng pò chuāng ér rù de.
It seems that the burglar broke in through an upstairs window.
飞机在云层上飞着。
Fēijī zài yúncéng shàng fēi zhe.
The plane flew above the clouds.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 层 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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