姨 (yí): mother's sister, aunt
姨 (yí) is a Chinese character meaning “mother's sister.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 女 (semantic) and 夷 (phonetic). It ranks #2229 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 姨 woman. Its radical form 女 (woman) appears in many related characters such as 女 (nǚ, woman), 奶 (nǎi, grandmother, milk), 她 (tā, she).
Definitions
- mother's sister
- aunt
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 姨 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 姨
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 姨妈noun | yí mā | (coll.) mother's sister |
| 小姨子noun | xiǎo yí zi | (coll.) wife's younger sister |
| 姨父noun | yí fu | husband of mother's sister |
| 姨婆noun | yí pó | (strictly speaking) sister of one's maternal grandmother |
| 姨丈noun | yí zhàng | mother's sister's husband |
| 姨母noun | yí mǔ | mother's sister |
| 大姨子noun | dà yí zi | sister-in-law |
| 大姨noun | dà yí | aunt (mother's eldest sister) |
| 姨夫noun | yí fu | mother's sister's husband |
| 七大姑八大姨noun | qī dà gū bā dà yí | distant relatives |
| 姨太太noun | yí tài tai | concubine |
| 大姨妈noun | dà yí mā | mother's eldest sister (older than one's mother) |
| 姨母笑 | yí mǔ xiào | (neologism c. 2017) (slang) kindly, indulgent smile (usu. on the face of a woman) |
| 小姨noun | xiǎo yí | mother's youngest sister |
| 细姨noun | xì yí | concubine |
姨 appears in 23 compound words: 61 as the first character, 26 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 姨 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
这位姨士穿着得体，举止优雅大方。
zhè wèi yí shì chuān zhe dé tī , jǔ zhǐ yōu yǎ dà fāng .
This lady was well-dressed and carried herself with grace and poise.
人贩子“梅姨”落网,正义不放过任何一个恶人 | 新京...
rén fàn zǐ méi yí luò wǎng , zhèng yì bù fàng guò rèn hé yī gè è rén xīn jīng . . .
Human Trafficker "Aunt Mei" Arrested: Justice Will Not Let a Single Villain Escape | Beijing News...
中国人口贩子“梅姨”逃20年落网!恐死刑
zhōng guó rén kǒu fàn zǐ méi yí táo 2 0 nián luò wǎng ! kǒng sǐ xíng
Chinese human trafficker "Aunt Mei" captured after 20 years on the run! Faces possible death penalty
青岛大姨5小时挖蛏近百斤,科学解读蛏的营养价值和...
qīng dǎo dà yí 5 xiǎo shí wā 蛏 jìn bǎi jīn , kē xué jiě dòu 蛏 de yíng yǎng jià zhí hé . . .
Aunt Qingdao dug nearly 100 pounds of clams in 5 hours, scientifically interpreting the nutritional value of clams and...
青岛大姨5小时挖蛏近百斤?蛏子的营养和吃法值得了...
qīng dǎo dà yí 5 xiǎo shí wā 蛏 jìn bǎi jīn ? 蛏 zǐ de yíng yǎng hé chī fǎ zhí dé le . . .
Aunt Qingdao digs nearly 100 pounds of clams in 5 hours? The nutrition and eating of razor clams are worth it...
【艺大森友会】张嘉真/早餐店阿姨
yì dà sēn yǒu huì zhāng jiā zhēn zǎo cān diàn ā yí
【Art University Forest Friendship Association】Zhang Jiazhen/Breakfast shop aunt
你叔叔给你阿姨剪头发。
Nǐ shūshu gěi nǐ āyí jiǎn tóufa.
Your uncle gives your aunt a haircut.
我阿姨在她的花园种蕃茄。
Wǒ āyí zài tā de huāyuán zhǒng fānqié.
My aunt grows tomatoes in her garden.
我的阿姨给了我一台摄影机。
Wǒ de āyí gěi le wǒ yī tái shèyǐngjī.
My aunt gave me a camera.
我和我阿姨有种特别的情谊。
Wǒ hé wǒ āyí yǒuzhǒng tèbié de qíngyì.
I have a special relationship with my aunt.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 姨 (yí)?
Is 姨 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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