涅 (niè): (literary) alunite (formerly used as a black dye), (literary) to dye black

涅 (niè) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) alunite (formerly used as a black dye).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 氵 (water). It ranks #2703 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 氵 water10 strokesFrequency #2703

Definitions

(literary) alunite (formerly used as a black dye)
(literary) to dye black

Stroke Order

Practice writing 涅 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
康涅狄格	kāng niè dí gé	Connecticut, US state
埃涅阿斯	āi niè ā sī	Aeneas, hero of Virgil's Aeneid
海涅	hǎi niè	Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), German lyric poet
屠格涅夫	tú gé niè fū	Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818-1883), Russian novelist
波洛涅斯	bō luò niè sī	(name) Polonius
罗斯涅夫	luó sī niè fū	Rosneft (Russian state oil company)
大本涅槃经	dà běn niè pán jīng	(Buddhism) the Nirvana Sutra
顿涅斯克	dùn niè sī kè	Donetsk region of W. Ukraine
大般涅槃经	dà bān niè pán jīng	(Buddhism) Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, aka the Nirvana Sutra, of which two major Chinese translations are extant,...
勃列日涅夫	bó liè rì niè fū	Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982), Soviet statesman, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR 1966-1982
奥腊涅斯塔德	ào là niè sī tǎ dé	Oranjestad, capital of Aruba
格涅沙	gé niè shā	Ganesha (the elephant-headed God in Hinduism, son of Shiva and Parvati)
沃罗涅日	wò luó niè rì	Voronezh, city in the southwest of European Russia
入涅	rù niè	to enter nirvana (Buddhism)
涅白	niè bái	opaque white

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

涅 appears in 25 compound words: 28 as the first character, 12 as the last, and 60 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

屠格涅夫TúgénièfūHSK 7+

a transliteration of the Russian surname Тургенев (Turgenev), Turgenev

顿涅茨克DùnniècíkèHSK 4+

Donetsk (a city in Ukraine)

康涅狄格KāngnièdígéHSK 4+

(Mainland China, Hong Kong) Connecticut (a state of the United States)

Showing 3 of 4 idioms containing 涅.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

暴雨过后，涅水上涨，淹没了低洼的街道。

bào yǔ guò hòu , niè shuǐ shàng zhǎng , yān méi le dī wā de jiē dào .

After the heavy rain, the Nye River swelled and flooded the low-lying streets.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 涅 (niè) mean in Chinese?

涅 (niè) primarily means "(literary) alunite (formerly used as a black dye)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2703 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 涅 and 白?

涅 (niè) and 白 (bái) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 涅 (black) vs 白 (white).

How many strokes does 涅 have?

涅 is written with 10 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 涅?

The radical associated with 涅 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.

What are common words containing 涅?

Common words with 涅 include: 康涅狄格 (kāng niè dí gé, "Connecticut, US state"); 埃涅阿斯 (āi niè ā sī, "Aeneas, hero of Virgil's Aeneid"); 海涅 (hǎi niè, "Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), German lyric poet"); 屠格涅夫 (tú gé niè fū, "Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818-1883), Russian novelist"); 波洛涅斯 (bō luò niè sī, "(name) Polonius"). There are over 25 compound words containing this character.

Is 涅 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 涅 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

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