雨

yǔ, yù

一 + 𠕒

HSK 3.0Level 1

Definitions

yǔ (noun) rain

Etymology

Pictograph of rain falling from a cloud.

About

The character 雨 is a straightforward pictograph of rain falling from a cloud. Its top horizontal stroke suggests the sky; a horizontal line combined with a vertical enclosure beneath it forms the cloud; and the four interior dots are the falling raindrops. This vivid imagery established 雨 as the go‑to semantic radical for weather phenomena, and it appears in characters like 雪 (snow), 雹 (hail), and 雲 (cloud). From its earliest forms to today, the character has served both as a noun meaning 'rain' and as a verb meaning 'to rain' or 'to precipitate', with remarkably stable semantics.

Etymology Hide

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Warring States (~250 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal etymology image

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

今天下雨了。

Jīntiān xià yǔ le.

It rained today.

雨下得很大。

Yǔ xià de hěn dà.

The rain is falling heavily.

我喜欢下雨天。

Wǒ xǐhuān xià yǔ tiān.

I like rainy days.

雨后空气很清新。

Yǔ hòu kōngqì hěn qīngxīn.

The air is very fresh after rain.

这场雨持续了三天。

Zhè chǎng yǔ chíxù le sān tiān.

This rain lasted for three days.

雨水滋润了干旱的土地。

Yǔshuǐ zīrùn le gānhàn de tǔdì.

The rainwater moistened the dry land.

由于下雨，比赛被推迟了。

Yóuyú xià yǔ, bǐsài bèi tuīchí le.

Due to rain, the match was postponed.

在雨季，这里经常下雨。

Zài yǔjì, zhèlǐ jīngcháng xià yǔ.

During the rainy season, it often rains here.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 一

Example Words