意 (yì): meaning, idea
意 (yì) is a Chinese character meaning “meaning, idea.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 音 (phonetic) and 心 (semantic). It ranks #104 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 意 heart. Its radical form 心 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忘 (wàng, to forget), 想 (xiǎng, to think, to want), 爱 (ài, to love).
Definitions
- meaning, idea
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 意 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 意
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 意思noun | yì si | idea | 2 |
| 愿意verb | yuàn yì | to wish | 3 |
| 注意verb | zhù yì | to take note of | 3 |
| 主意noun | zhǔ yi | plan | 4 |
| 同意verb | tóng yì | to agree | 3 |
| 不好意思adjective | bù hǎo yì si | to feel embarrassed | 2 |
| 意义noun | yì yì | sense | 5 |
| 生意noun | shēng yì | life force | 4 |
| 意识verb/noun | yì shí | consciousness | 5 |
| 有意思adjective | yǒu yì si | interesting | 2 |
| 意味着verb | yì wèi zhe | to signify | 5 |
| 意见noun | yì jiàn | idea | 4 |
| 意外adjective/noun | yì wài | unexpected | 5 |
| 故意adverb | gù yì | deliberately | 4 |
| 满意verb | mǎn yì | satisfied | 3 |
| 在意verb | zài yì | to care about | 6 |
| 随意adjective | suí yì | as one wishes | 5 |
| 创意noun/verb | chuàng yì | creative | 6 |
| 得意adjective | dé yì | proud of oneself | 4 |
| 特意adverb | tè yì | specially | 6 |
| 没意思adjective | méi yì si | boring | 2 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 介意verb | jiè yì | to care about |
| 玩意noun | wán yì | toy |
| 意大利 | yì dà lì | Italy |
| 乐意verb | lè yì | to be willing to do sth |
| 注意力noun | zhù yì lì | attention |
| 意味noun | yì wèi | meaning |
| 无意verb | wú yì | inadvertent |
| 有意 | yǒu yì | to intend |
| 意志noun | yì zhì | will |
| 留意verb | liú yì | to be mindful |
| 意愿noun | yì yuàn | aspiration |
| 意图noun | yì tú | intent |
意 appears in 127 compound words: 19 as the first character, 69 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 意 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (55)
Showing 12 of 55 idioms containing 意.
Example Sentences
他的意思是我们需要加快进度，否则无法按时完成。
Tā de yìsi shì wǒmen xūyào jiākuài jìndù, fǒuzé wúfǎ ànshí wánchéng.
What he means is that we need to speed up, otherwise we won't finish on time.
太意外!?特朗普15%全球关税为中国送上“减...
tài yì wài ! ? tè lǎng pǔ 1 5 quán qiú guān shuì wéi zhōng guó sòng shàng jiǎn . . .
It's so unexpected!? Trump's 15% global tariff sent China a "reduction...
格陵兰岛自治政府总理称无意接收特朗普所称派往当地的医疗船
gé líng lán dǎo zì zhì zhèng fǔ zǒng lǐ chèn wú yì jiē shōu tè lǎng pǔ suǒ chèn pài wǎng dāng dì de yī liáo chuán
The prime minister of Greenland's autonomous government said he had no intention of receiving the medical ship that Trump said was sent to the area
(米兰冬奥会)冰雪“意”犹未尽:米兰冬奥会上中国军团的“名场面...
( mǐ lán dōng ào huì ) bīng xuě yì yóu wèi jǐn : mǐ lán dōng ào huì shàng zhōng guó jūn tuán de míng chǎng miàn . . .
(Milan Winter Olympics) Ice and snow "meaning" is not over: the "famous scene" of the Chinese Legion at the Milan Winter Olympics...
川AG大军注意!雅西高速成都往西昌方向多路段车多缓..
chuān dà jūn zhù yì ! yǎ xī gāo sù chéng dū wǎng xī chāng fāng xiàng duō lù duàn chē duō huǎn . .
Sichuan AG army attention! Yaxi Expressway, Chengdu to Xichang direction of many sections of the traffic slow ...
暖意融融 走进上海机场建设者小镇
nuǎn yì róng róng zǒu jìn shǎng hǎi jī chǎng jiàn shè zhě xiǎo zhèn
Warmth and Hospitality: A Visit to the Shanghai Airport Construction Workers' Village
这是不是意味着你不会来了？
Zhè shìbùshì yìwèizhe nǐ bù huì lái le?
Does that mean you won't come?
这个词是什么意思？
Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi?
What does this word mean?
你愿意和我跳舞吗？
Nǐ yuànyì hé wǒ tiàowǔ ma?
Will you dance with me?
这意外是何时发生的？
Zhè yìwài shì héshí fāshēng de?
When did the accident take place?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 心 (heart) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 意 (yì) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 意 and 暗?
How many strokes does 意 have?
What is the radical of 意?
What are the components of 意?
What are common words containing 意?
What characters sound the same as 意 (yì)?
Is 意 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 意 with real-time feedback
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