Definitions
(adjective)
cloudy; overcast; shady
(noun)
negative; female principle (in Yin-Yang)
(adjective)
negative (electrical)
(adjective)
hidden; implicit
About
The character 阴, historically written as 陰, originates from the conceptual representation of shade, constructed with the left radical 阝, a variant form denoting a hill or mound, and the right component 侌, which conveys a sense of cloud cover or obscurity, thus visually encapsulating the image of a landscape feature blocking the sun. Its earliest concrete meaning referred specifically to the shadowy side of a hill, which then broadened through classical texts to embody abstract, opposing principles within the natural world, most notably as the complementary feminine and negative force in the Daoist Yin-Yang dichotomy. Over centuries, its semantic field expanded to encompass conditions like overcast weather, metaphorical darkness, and hidden or negative aspects in various contexts, while the structural simplification to 阴 retained the hill radical but substituted the phonetic element with 月, maintaining the character's enduring association with concepts of darkness, passivity, and the unseen.
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。