(): different, other, hetero-

() is a Chinese character meaning “different.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #709 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, simplified form of 異; a person 共 with a scary face田. Its radical form (hands joined) appears in many related characters such as (kāi, to open (transitive or intransitive)), (nòng, to do), (, to abandon).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. different
  2. other
  3. hetero-

Etymology & Origin

ideographicSimplified form of 異; a person 共 with a scary face田

Decomposition: ⿱巳廾 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
adjective/adverbyì chángunusual6
nounchā yìdifference6
adjectiveyōu yìexceptional6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
guài yìmonstrous
guǐ yìstrange
yì xìngthe opposite sex
yì yìobjection
yì jiào túmember of another religion
biàn yìvariation
qí yìfantastic
jīng yìamazed
yì guóexotic
yì yàngdifference
yì duānheresy
lí yìto divorce
yì lèidifferent kind (sometimes with a connotation of strangeness or eccentricity)
yì jiàoheresy
tè yìexceptionally good
100
Total compounds
65
As first character
28
As last character
7
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 65 as the first character, 28 as the last, and 7 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

chā
0.63868,787 co-occurrences
guǐ
0.5491,913 co-occurrences
chà
0.534408 co-occurrences
yōu
0.50914,088 co-occurrences
cháng
0.46544,028 co-occurrences
gòu
0.45917,862 co-occurrences
biàn
0.44815,900 co-occurrences
0.4466,774 co-occurrences
liàn
0.4202,970 co-occurrences
0.41621,582 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (15)

dàfàngyìcǎiHSK 6+

to shine; to be outstanding; to perform splendidly

phrase
dǎngtóngfáyìHSK 7+

to unite with those who agree and fight those who differ

phrase
jiànyìsīqiānHSK 7+

to change one's mind the moment one sees something new

phrase
qí huā yì huìHSK 7+

exotic flowers and rare herbs (idiom)

phrase
qízhēnyìbǎoHSK 6+

extremely rare treasure

phrase
qiútóngcúnyìHSK 6+

to seek common ground while leaving aside differences; to agree to disagree

phrase
tóngchuángyìmèngHSK 6+

to not get along; to be in discord (usually as a result of different goals); to have different opinions and plans

phrase
yìguótāxiāngHSK 6+

foreign countries or lands; far away from one's native place

phrase
yìhūxúnchángHSK 6+

unusual; extraordinary

phrase
yìjūntūqǐHSK 6+

a new force suddenly emerges

phrase
yì xiāng pū bíHSK 6+

exotic odors assail the nostrils (idiom)

phrase
LiáozhāizhìyìHSK 6+

Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Qing Dynasty collection of Chinese supernatural tales)

Showing 12 of 15 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个字在古汉语中有不同的含义。

zhè gě yì zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .

This character "异" had different meanings in Classical Chinese.

99 健康网Feb 2026

...到一根手指都疼是怎么回事?是不是外阴发育

. . . dào yī gēn shǒu zhǐ dōu téng shì zěn má huí shì ? shì bù shì wài yīn fā yù yì cháng

... What's going on with a finger that hurts? Is it an abnormal development of the vulva?

99 健康网Feb 2026

男生小便后甩一甩能减少味吗?尿液残留少则氨味轻吗

nán shēng xiǎo biàn hòu shuǎi yī shuǎi néng jiǎn shǎo yì wèi ma ? niào yè cán liú shǎo zé 氨 wèi qīng ma

Can a boy shake after urinating reduce odor? Is the smell of ammonia lighter if there is less urine residue?

TvbsFeb 2026

郑丽文撞钟诡抖动!命理师惊揭“是他显灵”要警告关键1...

zhèng lí wén zhuàng zhōng guǐ yì dǒu dòng ! mìng lǐ shī jīng jiē shì tā xiǎn líng yāo jǐng gào guān jiàn 1 . . .

Zheng Liwen rang the bell and shook strangely! The numerologist revealed that "it was he who appeared" to warn the key 1...

Nownews今日新聞Feb 2026

能》金度勋疑吃Karina豆腐!被目击揉...

yì néng jīn dù xūn yí chī K a r i n a dòu fǔ ! bèi mù jī róu . . .

"Superpower" Kim Do-hoon suspected of eating Karina tofu! Being kneaded by witnesses...

公視新聞網 PnnFeb 2026

氦气流动常 阿提米丝2号绕月再推迟

氦 qì liú dòng yì cháng ā tí mǐ sī 2 hào rào yuè zài tuī chí

Helium flow is abnormal Artemis 2 orbit the moon and is postponed again

Tatoeba

”你是性恋还是女同?“”我是性恋。“

"nǐ shì yìxìngliàn háishi nǚtóng?""wǒ shì yìxìngliàn."

"Are you hetero or lesbian?" "I am hetero."

Tatoeba

「曲奇最近行为怪吗?」「他是一只猫。」

「 qǔqí zuì jìn xíngwéi guàiyì ma?」「 tā shì yī zhī māo.」

"Has Cookie been acting weird lately?" "He's a cat."

Tatoeba

国家不同,习俗各

Guójiā bùtóng, xísú gè yì.

Social customs vary from country to country.

Tatoeba

环境污染正造成常的天气情况。

Huánjìngwūrǎn zhèng zàochéng yìcháng de tiānqì qíngkuàng.

Environmental pollution is causing abnormal weather conditions.

Character Family

Radical Family — Characters sharing the hands joined radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 异 (yì) mean in Chinese?
异 (yì) primarily means "different." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #709 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 异 have?
异 is written with 6 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 异?
The radical associated with 异 is 廾 (hands joined). This radical appears in many characters related to hands joined.
What are the components of 异?
异 is composed of: 巳 (structural), 廾 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱巳廾 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 异?
Common words with 异 include: 异常 (yì cháng, "unusual"); 怪异 (guài yì, "monstrous"); 诡异 (guǐ yì, "strange"); 异性 (yì xìng, "the opposite sex"); 异议 (yì yì, "objection"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 异 (yì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yì: 一 (one), 衣 (clothing), 医 (medicine), 宜 (proper), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 异 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 异 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.