电 (diàn): lightning, electricity, electric (bound form)
电 (diàn) is a Chinese character meaning “lightning.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 曰 (structural) and 乚 (structural). It ranks #230 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 电 simplified form of 電; lightning 申 from a storm cloud 雨. Its radical form 田 (field) appears in many related characters such as 男 (nán, male), 由 (yóu, to follow), 画 (huà, to draw, painting).
Definitions
- lightning
- electricity
- electric (bound form)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicSimplified form of 電; lightning 申 from a storm cloud 雨
Decomposition: ⿻曰乚 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 电 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 电
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 电话noun | diàn huà | telephone | 1 |
| 打电话 | dǎ diàn huà | to make a telephone call | 1 |
| 电影noun | diàn yǐng | movie | 1 |
| 电视noun | diàn shì | television | 1 |
| 电脑noun | diàn nǎo | computer | 1 |
| 电梯noun | diàn tī | elevator | 3 |
| 电视台noun | diàn shì tái | television station | 5 |
| 闪电noun | shǎn diàn | lightning | 6 |
| 电池noun | diàn chí | battery | 5 |
| 电视剧noun | diàn shì jù | TV series | 4 |
| 电力noun | diàn lì | electrical power | 6 |
| 电子书noun | diàn zǐ shū | electronic book | 3 |
| 电源noun | diàn yuán | electric power source | 6 |
| 电影院noun | diàn yǐng yuàn | cinema | 1 |
| 充电verb | chōng diàn | to recharge (a battery) | 5 |
| 电动adjective | diàn dòng | electric-powered | 5 |
| 电器noun | diàn qì | (electrical) appliance | 5 |
| 发电verb | fā diàn | to generate electricity | 6 |
| 电商noun | diàn shāng | e-commerce (abbr. for 電子商務|电子商务[dian4 zi3 shang1 wu4]) | 5 |
| 电动车noun | diàn dòng chē | electric vehicle (commonly refers to e-bikes, scooters or electric cars) | 4 |
| 家电noun | jiā diàn | household electric appliance | 5 |
| 电子版noun | diàn zǐ bǎn | electronic edition | 5 |
| 电饭锅noun | diàn fàn guō | electric rice cooker | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 电击 | diàn jī | electric shock |
| 电报 | diàn bào | telegram |
| 电流 | diàn liú | an electric current |
| 电车 | diàn chē | tram |
| 电缆 | diàn lǎn | (electric) cable |
| 电路 | diàn lù | electric circuit |
| 电磁 | diàn cí | electromagnetic |
| 电锯 | diàn jù | electric saw (esp. electric chain saw) |
| 电工 | diàn gōng | electrician |
| 电汇 | diàn huì | telegraphic transfer (TT) |
| 电气 | diàn qì | electricity |
| 电灯 | diàn dēng | electric light |
电 appears in 100 compound words: 86 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 1 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 电 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (24)
Showing 12 of 24 idioms containing 电.
Example Sentences
电梯突然停了，我们被困在十五楼等了半个小时才获救。
Diàntī tūrán tíng le, wǒmen bèi kùn zài shíwǔ lóu děng le bàn gè xiǎoshí cái huòjiù.
The elevator suddenly stopped, and we were trapped on the fifteenth floor for half an hour before being rescued.
黄金消费火热、春节不打烊,电商人一周三飞
huáng jīn xiāo fèi huǒ rè , chūn jié bù dǎ 烊 , diàn shāng rén yī zhōu sān fēi
Gold consumption is hot, the Spring Festival is not closed, and e-commerce people fly three times a week
AI“硬控”春节档,电影为何更有“人味”了
A I yìng kòng chūn jié dàng , diàn yǐng wéi hé gēng yǒu rén wèi le
AI "hard controls" the Spring Festival file, why is the movie more "human"
冬奥会|家乡连线:“最强夫妻档”!电影都不敢这么演..
dōng ào huì jiā xiāng lián xiàn : zuì qiáng fū qī dàng ! diàn yǐng dōu bù gǎn zhè má yǎn . .
Winter Olympics|Hometown Connection: "The Strongest Couple"! The movie doesn't dare to act like this:
守护万家灯火,90后山东小伙的萧山变电站除夕夜
shǒu hù mò jiā dēng huǒ , hòu shān dōng xiǎo huǒ de xiāo shān biàn diàn zhàn chú xī yè
Guarding the lights, 90 years after the Shandong boy's Xiaoshan substation New Year's Eve
永定河山峡段4座梯级水电站累计发电破100亿千瓦时
yǒng dìng hé shān xiá duàn zuò tī jí shuǐ diàn zhàn lěi jì fā diàn pò yì qiān wǎ shí
Cumulative power generation from the four cascade hydropower stations along the mountainous section of the Yongding River surpasses 10 billion kilowatt-hours.
我出去的时候有人打我电话吗？
Wǒ chūqù de shíhou yǒurén dǎ wǒ diànhuà ma?
Did anyone call me while I was out?
你知道怎么操作电脑吗？
Nǐ zhīdào zěnme cāozuò diànnǎo ma?
Do you know how to operate a computer?
你最喜欢什么电视剧？
Nǐ zuì xǐhuan shénme diànshìjù?
Which drama series do you like best?
你最近有没有看电影？
Nǐ zuì jìn yǒuméiyǒu kàn diànyǐng?
Have you seen any movies lately?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 电 (diàn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 电 have?
What is the radical of 电?
What are the components of 电?
What are common words containing 电?
What characters sound the same as 电 (diàn)?
Is 电 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 电 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.