银

銀

yín

艮 + 钅

HSK 2.0Level 5

HSK 3.0Level 6

Definitions

yín (noun) silver

yín (adjective) silver-colored; silvery

yín (noun) money; currency

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 艮 represents the sound. Simplified form of 銀.

Semantic: 钅 Phonetic: 艮

About

The character 银 (traditional form: 銀) is a phono-semantic compound. Its semantic radical 钅 (formerly 金) classifies it as a metal, while 艮 on the right provides the phonetic element. Although 艮 can independently mean "tough" or "blunt", here it serves only for pronunciation. The character's core meaning is the precious metal silver, and by extension it denotes money, wealth, and financial institutions like banks (银行, literally "silver firm").

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Xin dynasty (9-23 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

这是一辆银色的车。

Zhè shì yī liàng yín sè de chē.

This is a silver car.

我去银行取钱。

Wǒ qù yín háng qǔ qián.

I go to the bank to withdraw money.

她戴着一副银耳环。

Tā dài zhe yī fù yín ěr huán.

She is wearing a pair of silver earrings.

白银的价格上涨了。

Bái yín de jià gé shàng zhǎng le.

The price of silver has risen.

这家银行的服务很好。

Zhè jiā yín háng de fú wù hěn hǎo.

The service of this bank is very good.

因为银具有导电性，所以用于电子产品。

Yīn wèi yín jù yǒu dǎo diàn xìng, suǒ yǐ yòng yú diàn zǐ chǎn pǐn.

Because silver has conductivity, it is used in electronic products.

在月光下，湖面闪烁着银光。

Zài yuè guāng xià, hú miàn shǎn shuò zhe yín guāng.

Under the moonlight, the lake surface sparkles with silver light.

如果银矿资源枯竭，我们将寻找替代材料。

Rú guǒ yín kuàng zī yuán kū jié, wǒ men jiāng xún zhǎo tì dài cái liào.

If silver ore resources are depleted, we will look for alternative materials.

Related Characters

Component: 艮

Component: 钅

银