忆 (yì): to recollect, to remember, memory
忆 (yì) is a Chinese character meaning “to recollect.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 忄 (semantic) and 乙 (phonetic). It ranks #1325 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 忆 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- to recollect
- to remember
- memory
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 忆 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 忆
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 记忆力 | jì yì lì | faculty of memory |
| 回忆录 | huí yì lù | memoir |
| 记忆犹新 | jì yì yóu xīn | to remain fresh in one's memory (idiom) |
| 追忆 | zhuī yì | to recollect |
| 忆苦思甜 | yì kǔ sī tián | to view one's past as miserable and one's present as happy (idiom) |
| 工作记忆 | gōng zuò jì yì | working memory |
| 随机存取记忆体 | suí jī cún qǔ jì yì tǐ | random access memory (RAM) |
| 记忆电路 | jì yì diàn lù | memory circuit |
| 快速记忆法 | kuài sù jì yì fǎ | mnemotechnic method |
| 记忆体 | jì yì tǐ | (Tw) (computer) memory |
| 记忆广度 | jì yì guǎng dù | memory span |
| 记忆化 | jì yì huà | memoization (computing) |
| 快闪记忆体 | kuài shǎn jì yì tǐ | (computing) flash memory |
| 记忆器 | jì yì qì | memristor (memory transistor) |
| 快闪记忆体盘 | kuài shǎn jì yì tǐ pán | (computing) flash drive |
忆 appears in 25 compound words: 12 as the first character, 24 as the last, and 64 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 忆 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
回忆起童年时光，他总是充满感慨。
Huíyì qǐ tóngnián shíguāng, tā zǒngshì chōngmǎn gǎnkǎi.
Recalling childhood memories, he is always filled with emotion.
扩产也来不及!全球记忆体荒将成AI竞争关键瓶颈 又一矽谷大老发...
kuò chǎn yě lái bù jí ! quán qiú jì yì tǐ huāng jiāng chéng jìng zhēng guān jiàn píng jǐng yòu yī 矽 gǔ dà lǎo fā . . .
Expanding production won't be enough! Global memory chip shortage to become critical bottleneck in AI competition Another Silicon Valley heavyweight speaks out...
台美日联手 进击AI记忆体...力积电扛试产与制造重任
tái měi rì lián shǒu jìn jī jì yì tǐ . . . lì jī diàn gāng shì chǎn yǔ zhì zào chóng rèn
Taiwan, U.S., and Japan Join Forces to Advance AI Memory... Powerchip Shoulders Trial Production and Manufacturing Responsibilities
热/快把记忆体捡回来? 台股4强曝
rè kuài bǎ jì yì tǐ jiǎn huí lái ? tái gǔ qiáng pù
Hot/Quickly Recover Your Memory? Taiwan Stock Market's Top 4 Revealed
电脑玩家哭了?中企被寄望“便宜记忆体救世主” 外媒却点2大现实:不可能实现
diàn nǎo wán jiā kū le ? zhōng qǐ bèi jì wàng biàn yí jì yì tǐ jiù shì zhǔ wài méi què diǎn dà xiàn shí bù kě néng shí xiàn
Computer gamers are crying? Chinese firms are being hailed as the "affordable memory saviors," but foreign media points out two major realities: it's impossible to achieve.
...现36年“GameBoy”卡声勾起玩家回忆
. . . xiàn nián kǎ shēng gōu qǐ wán jiā huí yì
The 36-year-old "Game Boy" cartridge sound evokes nostalgic memories for gamers.
这些音乐勾起了我儿时的回忆。
Zhèxiē yīnyuè gōuqǐ le wǒ érshí de huíyì.
The music carried me back to my childhood.
那首歌总是让我忆起童年。
Nà shǒu gē zǒngshì ràng wǒ yì qǐ tóngnián.
That song always reminds me of my childhood.
照片使我忆起了很多往事。
Zhàopiàn shǐ wǒ yì qǐ le hěn duō wǎngshì.
The picture brought back a lot of memories.
记忆是我们大脑的一种主要功能。
Jìyì shì wǒmen dànǎo de yīzhǒng zhǔyào gōngnéng.
Memory is an essential function of our brain.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 忆 (yì)?
Is 忆 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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