李 (lǐ): plum, surname Li
李 (lǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “plum, surname li.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 子 (phonetic). It ranks #472 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 李 wood. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).
Definitions
- plum, surname Li
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 李 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 李
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 行李箱noun | xíng li xiāng | suitcase |
| 李子noun | lǐ zi | plum |
| 李小龙 | lǐ xiǎo lóng | Bruce Lee (1940-1973), Hong Kong actor and martial arts expert |
| 行李袋 | xíng li dài | travel bag |
| 李斯 | lǐ sī | Li Si (c. 280-208 BC), Legalist philosopher, calligrapher and prime minister of Qin kingdom and Qin dynasty from 246 ... |
| 李尔王 | lǐ ěr wáng | King Lear, 1605 tragedy by William Shakespeare 莎士比亞|莎士比亚 |
| 李维 | lǐ wéi | Titus Livius or Livy (59 BC-17 AD), Roman historian |
| 李昂 | lǐ áng | Li Ang, personal name of fifteenth Tang emperor Wenzong 文宗 (809-840), reigned 827-840 |
| 李舜臣 | lǐ shùn chén | Yi Sunshin (1545-1598), Korean admiral and folk hero, famous for sea victories over the Japanese invaders |
| 行李架noun | xíng li jià | luggage rack |
| 李斯特 | lǐ sī tè | Ferenc (Franz) Liszt (1811-1886), Hungarian composer |
| 李德 | lǐ dé | Otto Braun (1900-1974), Comintern adviser to the Chinese communist party 1932-1939 |
| 李连杰 | lǐ lián jié | Jet Li (1963–), Chinese martial artist, actor and film director |
| 李安 | lǐ ān | Ang Li (1954-), Taiwanese-American film director (films include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 臥虎藏龍|卧虎藏龙 and Brokebac... |
| 李维斯 | lǐ wéi sī | Levi's (brand) |
李 appears in 101 compound words: 91 as the first character, 4 as the last, and 5 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 李 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
a position that invites suspicion; suspicious circumstances or surroundings
to substitute one for another; to carry the can for someone; to take punishment in place of someone
to return a favor; to exchange gifts; you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
to confuse a person with someone else; to confuse one thing with another
Example Sentences
李子含有丰富的维生素，夏天吃可以解暑生津。
Lǐzi hányǒu fēngfù de wéishēngsù, xiàtiān chī kěyǐ jiěshǔ shēngjīn.
Plums are rich in vitamins and can relieve summer heat and promote saliva production when eaten in summer.
(米兰冬奥会)谷爱凌、李方慧摘得自由式滑雪女子U池金、银牌
( mǐ lán dōng ào huì ) gǔ ài líng , lǐ fāng huì zhāi dé zì yóu shì huá xuě nǚ zǐ U chí jīn , yín pái
(Milan Winter Olympics) Gu Ailing and Li Fanghui won gold and silver medals in the women's U pool in freestyle skiing
谷爱凌李方慧包揽冠亚军,中国体育代表团创历史
gǔ ài líng lǐ fāng huì bāo lǎn guàn yà jūn , zhōng guó tǐ yù dài biǎo tuán chuàng lì shǐ
Gu Ailing and Li Fanghui won the championship and runner-up, and the Chinese sports delegation made history
新北市长选战开跑! 李四川:让我回新北服务
xīn běi shì cháng xuǎn zhàn kāi pǎo ! lǐ sì chuān : ràng wǒ huí xīn běi fú wù
The New Taipei City mayoral election campaign begins! Li Sichuan: Let me go back to New Taipei to serve
黄洛妍神倒模叶蒨文唱功 李尹嫣献声赢奖金
huáng 洛 妍 shén dǎo mó xié 蒨 wén chàng gōng lǐ 尹 嫣 xiàn shēng yíng jiǎng jīn
Huang Luoyan is a divine model Ye Qianwen singing skills Li Yinyan contributed her voice to win the prize money
抖音集团李亮:炒作“字节是恒科的最大空头”很荒唐也...
dǒu yīn jí tuán lǐ liàng chǎo zuò zì jié shì héng kē de zuì dà kōng tóu hěn huāng táng yě . . .
Jitterbug Group's Li Liang: The speculation that "Byte is the biggest short of Henco" is absurd and...
汤姆没有吃桃子，他在吃李子。
Tāngmǔ méiyǒu chī táozi, tā zài chī lǐzi.
Tom isn't eating a peach. He's eating a plum.
我来登记之前你可以先帮我看管行李吗？
Wǒ lái dēngjì zhīqián nǐ kěyǐ xiān bāng wǒ kānguǎn xíngli ma?
Can I leave my bags with you until I come to check in?
你把我的行李怎么了？
Nǐ bǎ wǒ de xíngli zěnmele?
What did you do with my baggage?
你能帮我拿这个行李箱吗？
Nǐ néng bāng wǒ ná zhège xínglixiāng ma?
Will you please help me carry this suitcase?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 李 (lǐ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 李 and 孜?
How many strokes does 李 have?
What is the radical of 李?
What are the components of 李?
What are common words containing 李?
What characters sound the same as 李 (lǐ)?
Is 李 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 李 with real-time feedback
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