Definitions
(adjective)
cloudy; overcast; shady
(noun)
negative; female principle (in Yin-Yang)
(adjective)
negative (electrical)
(adjective)
hidden; implicit
About
The character for "yin" originated with the traditional form 陰, which combines the hill radical 阝 with the component 侌 related to clouds and shade, establishing its early concrete meaning as the dark or northern side of a hill. From this topographic reference, its semantic scope expanded over time to encompass conditions like overcast weather, concepts of concealment and the unseen, and the philosophical abstraction of yin as the negative, feminine, or receptive principle in dualistic thought. The simplified form 阴 maintains the hill radical but substitutes the right-hand component with 月, a graphical simplification that alters the character's structure without introducing new semantic elements from the moon meaning.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
今天天气很阴。
树荫底下很阴凉。
她的性格有点阴沉。
这是一间阴面的房间。
阴谋最终被揭穿了。
中医讲究阴阳平衡。
山洞里阴暗又潮湿。
这些证据可能是阴性的。