夷 (yí): non-Han people, esp. to the East of China, barbarians, to wipe out
夷 (yí) is a Chinese character meaning “non-han people, esp. to the east of china.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 大 (structural) and 弓 (structural). It ranks #2270 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 夷 a man 大 armed with a bow 弓. Its radical form 大 (big) appears in many related characters such as 大 (dà, big), 天 (tiān, day), 太 (tài, highest).
Definitions
- non-Han people, esp. to the East of China
- barbarians
- to wipe out
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA man 大 armed with a bow 弓
Decomposition: ⿻大弓 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 夷 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 夏威夷 | xià wēi yí | Hawaii, US state |
| 夷为平地 | yí wéi píng dì | to level |
| 匪夷所思 | fěi yí suǒ sī | unimaginable |
| 化险为夷 | huà xiǎn wéi yí | to turn peril into safety (idiom) |
| 烧夷弹 | shāo yí dàn | incendiary bomb |
| 鄙夷 | bǐ yí | to despise |
| 夏威夷火山国家公园 | xià wēi yí huǒ shān guó jiā gōng yuán | Hawaii Volcanoes National Park |
| 师夷长技以制夷 | shī yí cháng jì yǐ zhì yí | "learn from the foreigners in order to gain command of them", idea advocated by Wei Yuan 魏源[Wei4 Yuan2] |
| 三夷教 | sān yí jiào | the three foreign religions that had been introduced to China by the time of the Tang dynasty: Nestorianism, Manichae... |
| 武夷山市 | wǔ yí shān shì | Wuyishan, a county-level city in Nanping City 南平市[Nan2 ping2 Shi4], Fujian |
| 夏威夷果 | xià wēi yí guǒ | macadamia nut |
| 武夷山 | wǔ yí shān | Mt Wuyi in Fujian |
| 夷然 | yí rán | calm |
| 以夷制夷 | yǐ yí zhì yí | to use foreigners to subdue foreigners (idiom) |
| 履险如夷 | lǚ xiǎn rú yí | lit. to make one's way through a dangerous pass as if walking on level ground (idiom) |
夷 appears in 36 compound words: 33 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 33 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 夷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
Showing 3 of 5 idioms containing 夷.
Example Sentences
老师教我们夷字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men yí zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "夷".
损失逾320亿!夏威夷遭风暴袭击 5500人连夜逃离家园
sǔn shī yú 3 2 0 yì ! xià wēi yí zāo fēng bào xí jī 5 5 0 0 rén lián yè táo lí jiā yuán
Damages Exceed $3.2 Billion! Hawaii Hit by Storm; 5,500 People Flee Their Homes Overnight
美国夏威夷暴雨连环来袭 5500人急撤百年水坝或溃...
měi guó xià wēi yí bào yǔ lián huán lái xí 5 5 0 0 rén jí chè bǎi nián shuǐ bà huò kuì . . .
A series of torrential rains has hit Hawaii, prompting the emergency evacuation of 5,500 people as a century-old dam threatens to burst...
夏威夷水坝恐溃堤逾4千人急撤 洪水淹浸街道车辆
xià wēi yí shuǐ bà kǒng kuì dī yú 4 qiān rén jí chè hóng shuǐ yān jìn jiē dào chē liàng
Over 4,000 Evacuated as Hawaii Dam Faces Risk of Breach; Floodwaters Submerge Streets and Vehicles
不再是夏威夷!台湾成日本家庭海外旅游新选择 日媒点出...
bù zài shì xià wēi yí ! tái wān chéng rì běn jiā tíng hǎi wài lǚ yóu xīn xuǎn zé rì méi diǎn chū . . .
No Longer Hawaii! Taiwan Becomes the New Overseas Travel Destination for Japanese Families; Japanese Media Highlights...
科技织就“天空地”一体化保护网 武夷山国家公园数字化守护生物多样性
kē jì zhī jiù tiān kōng dì yī tǐ huà bǎo hù wǎng wǔ yí shān guó jiā gōng yuán shǔ zì huà shǒu hù shēng wù duō yàng xìng
Technology Weaves an Integrated "Air-Land-Sea" Conservation Network: Wuyishan National Park Uses Digital Technology to Safeguard Biodiversity
我们在夏威夷渡过了圣诞。
Wǒmen zài Xiàwēiyí dùguò le Shèngdàn.
We stayed in Hawaii over Christmas.
你已经去过夏威夷了吗？
Nǐ yǐjīng qù guo Xiàwēiyí le ma?
Have you ever been to Hawaii?
这儿有人去过夏威夷吗？
Zhèr yǒu rén qù guo Xiàwēiyí ma?
Has anybody here been to Hawaii?
你为什么喜欢夏威夷？
Nǐ wèishénme xǐhuan Xiàwēiyí?
Why do you like Hawaii?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 夷 (yí) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 夷 and 右?
How many strokes does 夷 have?
What is the radical of 夷?
What are the components of 夷?
What are common words containing 夷?
What characters sound the same as 夷 (yí)?
Is 夷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 夷 with real-time feedback
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