锡 (xī): tin (chemistry), to bestow, to confer
锡 (xī) is a Chinese character meaning “tin (chemistry).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (semantic) and 易 (phonetic). It ranks #2026 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 锡 metal. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 钱 (qián, money), 错 (cuò, wrong, mistake), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell).
Definitions
- tin (chemistry)
- to bestow
- to confer
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 锡 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 锡纸noun | xī zhǐ | tinfoil |
| 锡安proper-noun | xī ān | Zion |
| 锡箔noun | xī bó | tinfoil |
| 锡兰proper-noun | xī lán | Ceylon (former name of Sri Lanka) |
| 莱比锡proper-noun | lái bǐ xī | Leipzig, city in the state of Saxony, Germany |
| 锡克noun | xī kè | Sikh |
| 锡矿noun | xī kuàng | tin ore |
| 麦肯锡 | mài kěn xī | (name) MacKenzie |
| 陈仁锡 | chén rén xī | Chen Renxi (1581-1636), late Ming scholar and prolific author |
| 焊锡 | hàn xī | solder |
| 察布查尔锡伯自治县 | chá bù chá ěr xī bó zì zhì xiàn | Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County, in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture 伊犁哈薩克自治州|伊犁哈萨克自治州[Yi1 li2 Ha1 sa4 ke4 Zi4 zhi4 zho... |
| 马中锡 | mǎ zhōng xī | Ma Zhongxi, Ming writer (1446-1512), author of the fable The Wolf of Zhongshan 中山狼傳|中山狼传 |
| 洛锡安区 | luò xī ān qū | Lothian, Scottish region around Edinburgh |
| 无锡市 | wú xī shì | Wuxi, prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province 江蘇省|江苏省 |
| 麦卡锡主义noun | mài kǎ xī zhǔ yì | McCarthyism |
锡 appears in 52 compound words: 67 as the first character, 19 as the last, and 13 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 锡 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
锡刚石是自然界最坚硬的物质。
xī gāng shí shì zì rán jiè zuì jiān yìng de wù zhì .
Diamond is the hardest substance in nature.
提早绽放 台南玉井锡叶藤紫、白花争艳
tí zǎo zhàn fàng tái nán yù jǐng xī xié téng zǐ , bái huā zhēng yàn
Blooming early Tainan Yujing tin leaves vine purple and white flowers compete for beauty
71岁成龙内地宣传新戏 热情锡爆细路女面珠墩双手摸脸:龙之吻
7 1 suì chéng lóng nèi dì xuān chuán xīn xì rè qíng xī bào xì lù nǚ miàn zhū 墩 shuāng shǒu mō liǎn : lóng zhī wěn
71-year-old Jackie Chan promoted a new drama in the mainland and enthusiastically tinned the children's faces, touching their faces with both hands: dragon kisses
内乱案 尹锡悦提起上诉
nèi luàn àn 尹 xī yuè tí qǐ shàng sù
Civil strife case Yoon Suk-yeol appealed
娱乐抢先看/始源8字贴文挺尹锡悦掀论战、逸祥探望山猪父母惹泪
yú lè qiǎng xiān kàn shǐ yuán 8 zì tiē wén tǐng 尹 xī yuè xiān lùn zhàn , yì xiáng tàn wàng shān zhū fù mǔ rě lèi
Entertainment sneak peek/Siyuan 8-word post supports Yin Xiyue's debate, and Yixiang's visit to the parents of the wild boar brings tears
“尹锡悦政府时期11次向平壤放飞无人机”
尹 xī yuè zhèng fǔ shí qī 1 1 cì xiàng píng rǎng fàng fēi wú rén jī
"11 drones were flown to Pyongyang during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration"
你能分辨银和锡吗?
Nǐ néng fēnbiàn yín hé xī ma?
Can you tell silver and tin apart?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 钅 (metal) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 锡 (xī) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 锡 and 赐?
How many strokes does 锡 have?
What is the radical of 锡?
What are the components of 锡?
What are common words containing 锡?
What characters sound the same as 锡 (xī)?
Is 锡 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 锡 with real-time feedback
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