云 (yún): (classical) to say, abbr. for Yunnan Province 雲南省|云南省, cloud
云 (yún) is a Chinese character meaning “(classical) to say.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 二 (structural) and 厶 (structural). It ranks #692 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 云 a cloud. Its radical form 二 (two) appears in many related characters such as 二 (èr, two), 五 (wǔ, five), 些 (xiē, classifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several).
Definitions
- (classical) to say
- abbr. for Yunnan Province 雲南省|云南省
- cloud
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 云 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 风云 | fēng yún | weather |
| 云霄 | yún xiāo | (the) skies |
| 乌云 | wū yún | black cloud |
| 云层 | yún céng | the clouds |
| 云彩 | yún cai | (coll.) cloud |
| 星云 | xīng yún | nebula |
| 云梯 | yún tī | (military) ladder used for scaling the walls of a fortified place (i.e. for escalading) in ancient times |
| 云雀 | yún què | (bird species of China) Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis) |
| 白云 | bái yún | white cloud |
| 云集 | yún jí | to gather (in a crowd) |
| 云端 | yún duān | high in the clouds |
| 疑云 | yí yún | a haze of doubts and suspicions |
| 云朵 | yún duǒ | a cloud |
| 阴云 | yīn yún | dark cloud |
| 如云 | rú yún | like the clouds in the sky (i.e. numerous) |
云 appears in 100 compound words: 45 as the first character, 47 as the last, and 8 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 云 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (28)
freakishness; changeable and strange; changes in human affairs often take freakish forms
to be fickle; to shift one's grounds constantly; to play politics; to be tricky
to surge like a gathering storm (idiom); to grow by leaps and bounds
floating clouds, morning dew (idiom); fig. ephemeral nature of human existence
lit. to shade in the clouds to offset the moon (idiom); fig. a foil; a contrasting character to a main hero
to be fickle; to shift one's grounds constantly; to play politics; to be tricky
to surge like a gathering storm (idiom); to grow by leaps and bounds
floating clouds, morning dew (idiom); fig. ephemeral nature of human existence
freakishness; changeable and strange; changes in human affairs often take freakish forms
Showing 12 of 28 idioms containing 云.
Example Sentences
云字在日常生活中使用频率很高。
yún zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ hěn gāo .
The character "云" is used very frequently in daily life.
笔下风云:一败涂地 等被弹劾
bǐ xià fēng yún : yī bài tú dì děng bèi dàn 劾
The pen is in turmoil: a complete failure and other impeachment
阿里云编程套餐月费最低7.9元
ā lǐ yún biān chéng tào cān yuè fèi zuì dī 7 . 9 yuán
Alibaba Cloud programming package has a minimum monthly fee of 7.9 yuan
云林大黄狗被人从5楼丢下“凶手抓到了” 虐...
yún lín dà huáng gǒu bèi rén cóng 5 lóu diū xià xiōng shǒu zhuā dào le nüè . . .
The big yellow dog in Yunlin was dropped from the 5th floor "The murderer was caught" and abused...
...香氤氲,温情暖暖~看阿婆爷叔如何解锁“行云流水”..
. . . xiāng 氤 氲 , wēn qíng nuǎn nuǎn kàn ā pó yé shū rú hé jiě suǒ háng yún liú shuǐ . .
... Fragrant, warm and warm~ See how grandma and uncle unlock "flowing clouds and flowing water":
一环内禁燃!云岩区春节期间烟花爆竹禁限放区域、时间..
yī huán nèi jīn rán ! yún yán qū chūn jié qī jiān yān huā bào zhú jīn xiàn fàng qū yù , shí jiān . .
No combustion in the first ring! During the Spring Festival in Yunyan District, fireworks and firecrackers are prohibited and restricted:
昨天东京天气多云吗？
Zuótiān Dōngjīng tiānqì duōyún ma?
Was it cloudy in Tokyo yesterday?
空中有一大片乌云。
Kōngzhōng yǒu yī dàpiàn wūyún.
There is a mass of dark clouds in the sky.
在云的遮蔽下无法见到月亮。
Zài yún de zhēbì xià wúfǎ jiàndào yuèliang.
The moon is invisible behind the clouds.
这个岛从远方看起来像一片云。
Zhège dǎo cóng yuǎnfāng kànqǐlai xiàng yī piàn yún.
Viewed from a distance, the island looked like a cloud.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 云 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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