隶 (lì): (bound form) a person in servitude, low-ranking subordinate, (bound form) to be subordinate to, (bound form) clerical script (the style of characters intermediate between ancient seal and modern regular characters)
隶 (lì) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) a person in servitude.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 彐 (structural) and 氺 (structural). It ranks #1784 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 隶 a hand 彐 threshing rice. Its radical form 隶 (slave) appears in many related characters.
Definitions
- (bound form) a person in servitude
- low-ranking subordinate
- (bound form) to be subordinate to
- (bound form) clerical script (the style of characters intermediate between ancient seal and modern regular characters)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA hand 彐 threshing rice
Decomposition: ⿱彐氺 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 奴隶 | nú lì | slave |
| 隶属 | lì shǔ | to be subordinate to |
| 奴隶制 | nú lì zhì | slavery |
| 奴隶主 | nú lì zhǔ | slave owner |
| 奴隶制度 | nú lì zhì dù | slavery |
| 奴隶社会 | nú lì shè huì | slave-owning society (precedes feudal society 封建社會|封建社会 in Marxist theory) |
| 隶体 | lì tǐ | see 隸書|隶书[li4 shu1] |
| 直隶 | zhí lì | Zhili, a province from Ming times until 1928, roughly corresponding to present-day Hebei |
| 改隶 | gǎi lì | (of an entity) to come under the administration of (a different authority) |
| 隶书 | lì shū | clerical script |
| 隶圉 | lì yǔ | servants |
隶 appears in 11 compound words: 36 as the first character, 27 as the last, and 36 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 隶 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
隶字由8笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
lì zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "隶" consists of eight strokes and features a remarkably ingenious structure.
林肯反对奴隶制度。
Línkěn fǎnduì núlìzhìdù.
Lincoln was opposed to slavery.
美国废除了奴隶制度。
Měiguó fèichú le núlì zhìdù.
America did away with slavery.
您隶属哪家俱乐部吗？
Nín lìshǔ nǎ jiājù lè bù ma?
Do you belong to any clubs?
这个人是您的奴隶，是吧？
Zhège rén shì nín de núlì, shì ba?
This person is your slave, right?
我拒绝被你像奴隶一样对待。
Wǒ jùjué bèi nǐ xiàng núlì yīyàng duìdài.
I refuse to be treated like a slave by you.
不要成为金钱的奴隶。
Bù yào chéngwéi jīnqián de núlì.
Don't be a slave to money.
她是潮流的奴隶。
Tā shì cháoliú de núlì.
She is a slave of fashion.
汤姆把玛丽当成自己的奴隶一样看待。
Tāngmǔ bǎ Mǎlì dàngchéng zìjǐ de núlì yīyàng kàndài.
Tom treated Mary like a slave.
人有选择的权利，但是奴隶却只有服从的份儿。
Rén yǒu xuǎnzé de quánlì, dànshì núlì què zhǐ yǒu fúcóng de fènr.
A man chooses; a slave obeys.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 隶 (lì) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 隶 have?
What is the radical of 隶?
What are the components of 隶?
What are common words containing 隶?
What characters sound the same as 隶 (lì)?
Is 隶 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 隶 with real-time feedback
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