林 (lín): forest, woods
林 (lín) is a Chinese character meaning “forest, woods.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (structural) and 木 (structural). It ranks #364 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 林 two trees 木 representing a forest. 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
- forest, woods
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTwo trees 木 representing a forest
Decomposition: ⿰木木 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 林 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 林
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 柏林proper-noun | bó lín | Berlin, capital of Germany |
| 丛林noun | cóng lín | jungle |
| 布鲁克林proper-noun | bù lǔ kè lín | Brooklyn, borough of New York City |
| 梅林noun | méi lín | Merlin |
| 林肯proper-noun | lín kěn | Lincoln (name) |
| 穆斯林noun | mù sī lín | Muslim |
| 格林proper-noun | gé lín | Green or Greene (name) |
| 柯林斯 | kē lín sī | Collins (name) |
| 普林斯顿proper-noun | pǔ lín sī dùn | Princeton, New Jersey |
| 阿司匹林noun | ā sī pǐ lín | (loanword) aspirin |
| 克林顿proper-noun | kè lín dùn | Clinton (name) |
| 奥林匹克proper-noun | ào lín pǐ kè | Olympic |
| 富兰克林 | fù lán kè lín | (name) Franklin |
| 科林斯 | kē lín sī | Corinth, a city-state of ancient Greece |
| 柯林 | kē lín | Colin (name) |
林 appears in 109 compound words: 32 as the first character, 62 as the last, and 6 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 林 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (18)
to restrict access to a mountainous area to promote natural forest regeneration
Holingol (a county-level city of Tongliao, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
Holingol (a county-level city of Tongliao, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
Showing 12 of 18 idioms containing 林.
Example Sentences
这片林区每年可以吸收大量的二氧化碳，对环境保护很重要。
Zhè piàn línqū měinián kěyǐ xīshōu dàliàng de èryǎnghuàtàn, duì huánjìng bǎohù hěn zhòngyào.
This forest area can absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide annually, which is very important for environmental protection.
凌晨2:34 新北坪林区规模4.0地震 最大震度汐止2级
líng chén 2 : 3 4 xīn běi píng lín qū guī mó 4 . 0 dì zhèn zuì dà zhèn dù 汐 zhǐ 2 jí
At 2:34 a.m., a magnitude 4.0 earthquake occurred in Pinglin District, New Taipei, with a maximum seismic intensity of Xizhi 2
大理消防开展防火专项行动:踏查重点林区,对高火险区..
dà lǐ xiāo fáng kāi zhǎn fáng huǒ zhuān xiàng háng dòng : tà chá chóng diǎn lín qū , duì gāo huǒ xiǎn qū . .
Dali Fire Protection carried out special fire prevention actions: inspected key forest areas and conducted high-fire risk areas:
贵州烟火气·黔味中国年丨览林城山色,赏乌江画廊,赴..
guì zhōu yān huǒ qì 黔 wèi zhōng guó nián 丨 lǎn lín chéng shān sè , shǎng wū jiāng huà láng , fù . .
Guizhou Smoke and Fireworks-Guizhou Chinese New Year 丨visit the forest city mountain color, enjoy the Wujiang River Gallery, go to the ...
米兰冬奥会DAY12观赛指南:刘少昂林孝埈携手冲金
mǐ lán dōng ào huì guàn sài zhǐ nán liú shǎo áng lín xiào 埈 xié shǒu chōng jīn
Milan Winter Olympics Day 12 Viewing Guide: Liu Shaoyang and Lim Hyo-joong Team Up for Gold
...运进行时|为二次元乘客开辟临时卸妆区 桂林公园站..
. . . yùn jìn háng shí wéi èr cì yuán chéng kè kāi bì lín shí xiè zhuāng ōu guì lín gōng yuán zhàn . .
...Transportation in Progress | Temporary Makeup Removal Area Opened for Anime Fans at Guilin Park Station..
林肯反对奴隶制度。
Línkěn fǎnduì núlìzhìdù.
Lincoln was opposed to slavery.
亚伯拉罕·林肯是名人。
Yàbólāhǎn · Línkěn shì míngrén.
Abraham Lincoln is a famous person.
林肯总统接受了邀请。
Línkěn zǒngtǒng jiēshòu le yāoqǐng.
President Lincoln accepted the invitation.
穆斯林人也爱耶稣。
Mùsīlín rén yě ài Yēsū.
Muslims love Jesus, too.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 林 (lín)?
Is 林 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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