Meaning
(surname); thunder
Chinese: 雷声、雷电；也可作姓氏。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “lei” becomes a different word in each tone. 雷 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 打雷dǎ léito rumble with thunder; clap of thunder
- 雷达léi dá(loanword) radar
- 雷同léi tóngmirroring others; identical
- 雷人léi rén(Internet slang) shocking; appalling; terrifying; terrific
- 大雷dà léi(slang) large breasts
Example Sentence
远处传来一阵雷声。Yuǎn chù chuán lái yí zhèn léi shēng.A clap of thunder came from afar.
远处Yuǎn chùdistant place传来chuán lái(of a sound) to come throu一阵yí zhèna burst雷声léi shēngthunder。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The rain top (雨) over 田 (originally rolling drum/thunder shapes): the rumble that comes with rain — ‘thunder’.
A way to remember it
Rain (雨) above, a rumble below — thunder.
Easy to confuse with
- 雪‘Snow’: also under the rain top (雨), but with a hand/broom below.