律 (lǜ): law
律 (lǜ) is a Chinese character meaning “law.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 彳 (structural) and 聿 (structural). It ranks #526 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 律 to walk 彳 as required by law 聿. Its radical form 彳 (step) appears in many related characters such as 很 (hěn, very), 得 (dé, to obtain), 往 (wǎng, to go (in a direction)).
Definitions
- law
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo walk 彳 as required by law 聿
Decomposition: ⿰彳聿 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 律 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 律
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 律师noun | lǜ shī | lawyer | 4 |
| 法律noun | fǎ lǜ | law | 4 |
| 纪律noun | jì lǜ | discipline | 6 |
| 规律noun/adjective | guī lǜ | rule (e.g. of science) | 5 |
| 一律adverb | yī lǜ | same | 6 |
| 自律verb | zì lǜ | self-discipline | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 底特律proper-noun | dǐ tè lǜ | Detroit, Michigan |
| 旋律noun | xuán lǜ | melody |
| 定律noun | dìng lǜ | scientific law (e.g. law of conservation of energy) |
| 菲律宾proper-noun | fēi lǜ bīn | the Philippines |
| 心律noun | xīn lǜ | (medicine) heart rhythm |
| 戒律noun | jiè lǜ | monastic discipline |
| 律动verb | lǜ dòng | rhythm |
| 韵律noun | yùn lǜ | cadence |
| 千篇一律phrase | qiān piān yī lǜ | thousand articles, same rule (idiom) |
| 主旋律noun | zhǔ xuán lǜ | (music) theme |
| 希律王 | xī lǜ wáng | Herod the Great (73 BC - 4 BC), Roman-appointed king of Judea (37-4 BC) |
| 金科玉律phrase | jīn kē yù lǜ | golden rule |
| 律政司proper-noun | lǜ zhèng sī | Department of Justice (Hong Kong) |
| 节律noun | jié lǜ | rhythm |
| 格律noun | gé lǜ | forms of versification |
律 appears in 83 compound words: 11 as the first character, 52 as the last, and 37 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 律 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
a law, discipline, norm or regulation that is considered absolute and not allowed to be disputed or challenged
Showing 7 of 8 idioms containing 律.
Example Sentences
法律面前人人平等，任何人都要遵守法律。
Fǎlǜ miànqián rénrén píngděng, rènhé rén dōu yào zūnshǒu fǎlǜ.
Everyone is equal before the law; everyone must abide by the law.
...球加征15%关税 专家:“B计画”也无法律基础
. . . qiú jiā zhēng 1 5 guān shuì zhuān jiā : B jì huà yě wú fǎ lǜ jī chǔ
... The ball imposed a 15% tariff Expert: "Plan B" also has no legal basis
菲律宾海警在我南沙群岛附近海域扔下两个黑色桶...
菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài wǒ nán shā qún dǎo fù jìn hǎi yù rēng xià liǎng gě hēi sè tǒng . . .
Philippine marine police dropped two black barrels in the waters near my Spratly Islands...
菲律宾海警在南海投放不明物体被抓现行,监控画...
菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài nán hǎi tóu fàng bù míng wù tī bèi zhuā xiàn háng , jiān kòng huà . . .
Philippine Maritime Police caught dropping unidentified objects in the South China Sea, surveillance picture...
被抓现行!菲律宾海警在南海投放不明物体
bèi zhuā xiàn háng ! 菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài nán hǎi tóu fàng bù míng wù tī
Caught red-handed! Philippine Coast Guard deploys unidentified objects in the South China Sea
莎拉·杜特尔特宣布参加2028年菲律宾总统大选
莎 lā dù tè ěr tè xuān bù cān jiā nián 菲 lǜ bīn zǒng tǒng dà xuǎn
Sara Duterte announces her candidacy for the 2028 Philippine presidential election.
天灵灵，地灵灵；急急如律令！
Tiān líng líng, de líng líng; jí jí rú lǜ lìng!
Spirits of Heaven and Earth, heed my call; manifest swiftly by divine decree!
法律不应受到侵犯。
Fǎlǜ bù yīng shòudào qīnfàn.
The law should not be violated.
触犯法律的人受到惩罚。
Chùfàn fǎlǜ de rén shòudào chéngfá.
People who break the law are punished.
法律必须被信仰，否则形同虚设。
Fǎlǜ bìxū bèi xìnyǎng, fǒuzé xíngtóngxūshè.
One must have conviction in law, or its existence will be superficial only.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 律 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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