(): clothing

() is a Chinese character meaning “clothing.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural). It ranks #725 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically pictographic, a woman's dress. Its radical form (clothing) appears in many related characters such as (biǎo, exterior surface), (zhuāng, dress, install), (chū, beginning).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. clothing

Etymology & Origin

pictographicA woman's dress

Components:structural

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
nounyī fuclothes1
nounnèi yīundergarment6
nounshàng yījacket3
nounmáo yī(wool) sweater4
noundà yīovercoat3
nounxǐ yī jīwashing machine3
nounyǔ yīraincoat3
yī shí zhù xínglit. clothing, food, housing and transportation (idiom)6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
shuì yīnight clothes
chèn yīshirt
yī guìwardrobe
yī chúwardrobe
wài yīouter clothing
yǒng yīswimsuit
xǐ yīlaundry
yī zhuóclothes
yī wùclothing
fáng dàn yībulletproof vest
便biàn yīcivilian clothes
穿chuān yīto put on clothes
pí yīleather jacket or coat
yī jiàclothes hanger
yī lǐngcollar
100
Total compounds
33
As first character
61
As last character
6
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 33 as the first character, 61 as the last, and 6 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.

cháng
0.5724,944 co-occurrences
0.55521,575 co-occurrences
0.53269,096 co-occurrences
穿chuān
0.51124,457 co-occurrences
0.50417,958 co-occurrences
qún
0.5004,433 co-occurrences
0.4935,160 co-occurrences
liàng
0.492840 co-occurrences
jǐn
0.4718,675 co-occurrences
chú
0.465570 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (21)

báiyī-cānggǒuHSK 7+

freakishness; changeable and strange; changes in human affairs often take freakish forms

phrase
使báiyī tiānshǐHSK 4+

nurse; doctors and nurses

noun
便biàn yī jǐng cháHSK 4+

plain-clothed policeman

phrase
fēngyīzúshíHSK 4+

having ample food and clothing; well-fed and clothed

phrase
jiéyīsuōshíHSK 5+

to save money by reducing daily expenses

verb
jǐnyīyùshíHSK 7+

a life of luxury; extravagance

phrase
liàngtǐcáiyīHSK 5+

to act according to actual circumstances

phrase
niú yī duì qìHSK 7+

couple living in destitute misery (idiom)

phrase
quēyīshǎoshíHSK 4+

to have insufficient food and clothing due to poverty

phrase
suō yī jié shíHSK 5+

to economize on clothes and food; to scrimp and save (idiom)

phrase
tiānyīwúfèngHSK 7+

flawless; seamless

phrase
yāo jīn yī zǐHSK 5+

golden seal at the waist, purple gown (idiom); in official position

phrase

Showing 12 of 21 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这件服的面料很舒服,适合夏天穿着。

Zhè jiàn yīfu de miànliào hěn shūfu, shìhé xiàtiān chuānzhuó.

The fabric of this garment is very comfortable and suitable for summer wear.

99 健康网Feb 2026

亚洲l码和欧洲m码的区别?买服前必看的尺码指南

yà zhōu l mǎ hé ōu zhōu m mǎ de qū bié ? mǎi yī fú qián bì kàn de chǐ mǎ zhǐ nán

What is the difference between Asian L size and European M size? A must-read size guide before buying clothes

99 健康网Feb 2026

服最忌三个时间段?避开这些时段洗得更干净

xǐ yī fú zuì jì sān gè shí jiān duàn ? bì kāi zhè xiē shí duàn xǐ dé gēng gān jìng

The three most taboo time periods for washing clothes? Avoid these times to wash more cleanly

Nownews今日新聞Feb 2026

...字母哥招募布克!引用电影片段:穿一样的球我将为你而战

. . . zì mǔ gē zhāo mù bù kè ! yǐn yòng diàn yǐng piàn duàn : chuān yī yàng de qiú yī wǒ jiāng wéi nǐ ér zhàn

... Antetokounmpo recruits Booker! To quote a movie clip: I'll fight for you in the same jersey

EttodayFeb 2026

...病筛检增3成” 泌尿医曝观察:染淋病、披菌最常见

. . . bìng shāi jiǎn zēng 3 chéng mì niào yī pù guàn chá : rǎn lín bìng , pī yī jūn zuì cháng jiàn

... Disease screening increased by 30%" Urologist exposure observation: gonorrhea and chlamydia are the most common

百度新闻Feb 2026

盘核桃、叠服、穿烤肠,银河通用春晚机器人是怎么“....

pán hé táo dié yī fú chuān kǎo cháng , yín hé tōng yòng chūn wǎn jī qì rén shì zěn má . . . .

Cracking walnuts, folding clothes, threading sausages—how does the Galaxy Universal Spring Festival Gala robot manage to...

Tatoeba

你觉得这件毛怎么样?

Nǐ juéde zhè jiàn máoyī zěnmeyàng?

What do you think of this sweater?

Tatoeba

那个穿棕色大的女人是谁?

Nèige chuān zōngsè dàyī de nǚrén shì shéi?

Who's the woman in the brown coat?

Tatoeba

参加派对的话,你会穿哪一件服?

Cānjiā pàiduì dehuà, nǐ huì chuān nǎ yī jiàn yīfu?

When considering the party, what kind of clothes are you going to wear?

Tatoeba

你能派人拿一些服,好吗?

Nǐ néng pài rén ná yīxiē yīfu, hǎo ma?

Could you send someone up to pick up some laundry?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 衣 (yī) mean in Chinese?
衣 (yī) primarily means "clothing." It is classified as HSK Level 1, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #725 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 衣 have?
衣 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 衣?
The radical associated with 衣 is 衤 (clothing). In fact, 衣 is itself the full form of this radical — the simplified radical form 衤 appears as a component in many related characters.
What are the components of 衣?
衣 is composed of: 亠 (structural). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 衣?
Common words with 衣 include: 衣服 (yī fu, "clothes"); 内衣 (nèi yī, "undergarment"); 上衣 (shàng yī, "jacket"); 睡衣 (shuì yī, "night clothes"); 毛衣 (máo yī, "(wool) sweater"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 衣 (yī)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yī: 一 (one), 医 (medicine), 宜 (proper), 已 (already), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 衣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 衣 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.