烯 (xī): (chemistry) alkene, -ene (suffix used in chemical names)

烯 (xī) is a Chinese character meaning “(chemistry) alkene.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 火 (semantic) and 希 (phonetic). It ranks #3443 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 烯 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 烟 (yān, smoke), 烧 (shāo, to burn, to cook).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (chemistry) alkene
  2. -ene (suffix used in chemical names)

Etymology & Origin

烯

pictophoneticfire

Decomposition: ⿰火希 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
丙烯酸nounbǐng xī suānacrylic acid C3H4O2
乙烯nounyǐ xīethylene
聚乙烯nounjù yǐ xīpolythene
聚氯乙烯nounjù lǜ yǐ xīpolyvinyl chloride (PVC)
聚丙烯nounjù bǐng xīpolypropylene
聚苯乙烯nounjù běn yǐ xīpolystyrene
苯乙烯nounběn yǐ xī(chemistry) styrene
丁二烯noundīng èr xībutadiene C4H6
丙烯nounbǐng xīpropylene C3H6
白三烯bái sān xīleukotriene (biochemistry)
石墨烯nounshí mò xīgraphene
异戊二烯yì wù èr xīisoprene
聚四氟乙烯nounjù sì fú yǐ xīpolytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) (often referred to by the trademark Teflon)
乙烯基nounyǐ xī jī(chemistry) vinyl group
四氯乙烯sì lǜ yǐ xītetrachloroethylene
29
Total compounds
3
As first character
76
As last character
21
As middle character

烯 appears in 29 compound words: 3 as the first character, 76 as the last, and 21 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 烯 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

瓷cí
0.73610 co-occurrences
陶táo
0.73110 co-occurrences
墨mò
0.65313 co-occurrences
石shí
0.53613 co-occurrences
制zhì
0.37610 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

聚苯乙烯jùběnyǐxī

polystyrene

noun
聚氯乙烯jùlǜyǐxī

polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

noun

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

因为果子即使已经被采下,它的呼吸强度和乙烯释放仍会增加,推动果肉软化和香气形成。

yīn wéi guǒ zǐ jí shǐ yǐ jīng bèi cǎi xià , tā de hū xī qiáng dù hé yǐ xī shì fàng réng huì zēng jiā , tuī dòng guǒ ròu ruǎn huà hé xiāng qì xíng chéng .

This is because even after a fruit has been picked, its respiration rate and ethylene release continue to increase, promoting the softening of the flesh and the development of aroma.

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

而普通塑料袋的主要成分是聚乙烯,其分子结构由稳固的碳-碳键构成,化学惰性极强。

ér pǔ tōng sù liào dài de zhǔ yào chéng fēn shì jù yǐ xī , qí fēn zǐ jié gòu yóu wěn gù de tàn tàn jiàn gòu chéng , huà xué duò xìng jí qiáng .

Ordinary plastic bags are primarily made of polyethylene, whose molecular structure consists of stable carbon-carbon bonds and is highly chemically inert.

奇客SolidotSep 2026

这些水滴随后会滑到有聚四氟乙烯涂层的铜上。

zhè xiē shuǐ dī suí hòu huì huá dào yǒu jù sì 氟 yǐ xī tú céng de tóng shàng .

These water droplets then slide onto the PTFE-coated copper.

奇客SolidotAug 2026

聚乳酸纸杯释放的塑料颗粒总数是聚乙烯纸杯的 12 倍。

jù rǔ suān zhǐ bēi shì fàng de sù liào kē lì zǒng shǔ shì jù yǐ xī zhǐ bēi de 1 2 bèi .

Poly-L-lactic acid paper cups release 12 times as many plastic particles as polyethylene paper cups.

奇客SolidotAug 2026

研究团队发现,北京 35% 的树木会释放异戊二烯。

yán jiū tuán duì fā xiàn , běi jīng 3 5 de shù mù huì shì fàng yì wù èr xī .

A research team found that 35% of the trees in Beijing release isoprene.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 火 (fire) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced xī

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 烯 (xī) mean in Chinese?
烯 (xī) primarily means "(chemistry) alkene." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3443 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 烯 have?
烯 is written with 11 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 烯?
The radical associated with 烯 is 火 (fire). This radical appears in many characters related to fire.
What are the components of 烯?
烯 is composed of: 火 (semantic), 希 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰火希 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 烯?
Common words with 烯 include: 丙烯酸 (bǐng xī suān, "acrylic acid C3H4O2"); 乙烯 (yǐ xī, "ethylene"); 聚乙烯 (jù yǐ xī, "polythene"); 聚氯乙烯 (jù lǜ yǐ xī, "polyvinyl chloride (PVC)"); 聚丙烯 (jù bǐng xī, "polypropylene"). There are over 29 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 烯 (xī)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xī: 稀 (sparse). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 烯 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 烯 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 烯 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.