荫 (yìn): (bound form) shade (of a tree), shade

荫 (yìn) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) shade (of a tree).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (structural) and 阴 (structural). It ranks #2539 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 荫 shade 阴 provided by a tree 艹; 阴 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 花 (huā, flower), 茶 (chá, tea), 菜 (cài, vegetable, dish).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (bound form) shade (of a tree)
  2. shade

Etymology & Origin

荫

ideographicShade 阴 provided by a tree 艹; 阴 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿱艹阴 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
树荫nounshù yīnshade of a tree
林荫道lín yīn dàoboulevard
荫凉yìn liángshady and cool
遮荫verbzhē yīnto provide shade
绿荫nounlǜ yīnthe shade (of a tree)
绿树成荫phraselǜ shù chéng yīn(idiom) (of an area) to have trees with shade-giving foliage
冬荫功noundōng yīn gōng(loanword) tom yum goong (Thai soup)
林荫大道nounlín yīn dà dàovariant of 林陰大道|林阴大道
封妻荫子fēng qī yìn zǐ(idiom) to bestow a title on the wife of a deserving official and make his son heir to his titles
林荫路lín yīn lùsee 林蔭道|林荫道
曾荫权zēng yīn quánSir Donald Tsang, aka Tsang Yam-Kuen (1944–), the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong (2005–2012)
张荫桓zhāng yìn huánZhang Yinhuan (1837-1900), late Qing politician and senior Chinese diplomat
嘉荫县jiā yīn xiànJiayin, a county in Yichun City 伊春市, Heilongjiang
槐荫区huái yīn qūHuaiyin, a district of Jinan City 濟南市|济南市, Shandong
冬荫noundōng yīn(loanword) tom yum (Thai soup)
19
Total compounds
11
As first character
42
As last character
47
As middle character

荫 appears in 19 compound words: 11 as the first character, 42 as the last, and 47 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 荫 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

槐huái
0.617616 co-occurrences
沐mù
0.485162 co-occurrences
绿lǜ
0.459390 co-occurrences
树shù
0.452425 co-occurrences
愚yú
0.450158 co-occurrences
蔽bì
0.447144 co-occurrences
遮zhē
0.440172 co-occurrences
颜yán
0.432218 co-occurrences
培péi
0.414408 co-occurrences
湿shī
0.409120 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

封妻荫子fēng qī yìn zǐHSK 7+

(idiom) to bestow a title on the wife of a deserving official and make his son heir to his titles

phrase
林荫大道línyīn dàdàoHSK 7+

boulevard; tree-lined avenue

noun
绿树成荫lǜshùchéngyīnHSK 7+

to have many green leafy trees that form a pleasant shade

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个荫字在古汉语中有不同的含义。

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

The character "荫" had different meanings in classical Chinese.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

走进溯溪营地,绿树成荫,蜿蜒清澈的溪水穿林而行,游客正在其中嬉戏。

zǒu jìn sù xī yíng dì , lǜ shù chéng yìn , 蜿 蜒 qīng chè de xī shuǐ chuān lín ér háng , yóu kè zhèng zài qí zhōng xī xì .

As you enter the stream-trekking campground, you’ll find lush, shady trees and a winding, crystal-clear stream flowing through the woods, where visitors are playing in the water.

少数派Jul 2026

下到了一个山谷里,开始出现了树荫和溪水。

xià dào le yī gè shān gǔ lǐ , kāi shǐ chū xiàn le shù yìn hé xī shuǐ .

We descended into a valley, where we began to see tree shade and a stream.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

在大山的荫泽下,或一门手艺、一种习俗、一股子精气神,世代绵延。

zài dà shān de yìn zé xià , huò yī mén shǒu yì , yī zhǒng xí sú , yī gǔ zǐ jīng qì shén , shì dài mián yán .

In the shelter of the mountains, whether it be a craft, a custom, or a spirit, these traditions have been passed down from generation to generation.

SmzdmMar 2026

【醉花荫闲谈】普通人养狗,进尽量不要去碰繁殖。

zuì huā yìn xián tán pǔ tōng rén yǎng gǒu , jìn jǐn liàng bù yāo qù pèng fán zhí .

[Casual Chat Under the Drunken Flowers] If you're an average person raising a dog, try to avoid breeding as much as possible.

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

清明前夕除坟惊见60年荫尸 专家示警恐“呷子孙”

qīng míng qián xī chú fén jīng jiàn 6 0 nián yìn shī zhuān jiā shì jǐng kǒng 呷 zǐ sūn

On the Eve of Qingming Festival, a 60-Year-Old Mummified Corpse Is Discovered While Cleaning a Grave; Experts Warn It May "Haunt Future Generations"

Tatoeba

他们在那棵大树的树荫下坐了下来。

Tāmen zài nà kē dà shù de shùyìn xià zuò le xiàlai.

They sat in the shade of that big tree.

Tatoeba

一个老人在树荫下休息。

Yī gè lǎorén zài shùyìn xià xiūxi.

An old man was resting in the shade of the tree.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced yìn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 荫 (yìn) mean in Chinese?
荫 (yìn) primarily means "(bound form) shade (of a tree)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2539 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 荫 have?
荫 is written with 9 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 荫?
The radical associated with 荫 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are the components of 荫?
荫 is composed of: 艹 (structural), 阴 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艹阴 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 荫?
Common words with 荫 include: 树荫 (shù yīn, "shade of a tree"); 林荫道 (lín yīn dào, "boulevard"); 荫凉 (yìn liáng, "shady and cool"); 遮荫 (zhē yīn, "to provide shade"); 绿荫 (lǜ yīn, "the shade (of a tree)"). There are over 19 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 荫 (yìn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yìn: 因 (cause), 引 (to draw (e.g. a bow)), 音 (sound), 印 (to print), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 荫 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 荫 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 荫 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken 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.