Meaning
(classical) to say; cloud; (abbr.) for Yunnan; surname
Chinese: 云彩；文言中也表示说。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “yun” becomes a different word in each tone. 云 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
- 多云duō yún(meteorology) cloudy
- 乌云wū yúnblack cloud
- 风云fēng yúnweather; unstable situation
- 上云shàng yún(computing) to migrate to the cloud
- 如云rú yúnlike the clouds in the sky (i.e. numerous)
Example Sentence
山顶上常常被云雾笼罩。Shān dǐng shàng cháng cháng bèi yún wù lóng zhào.The mountaintop is often shrouded in clouds and mist.
山顶Shān dǐnghilltop上shàngon常常cháng chángfrequently被bèi(passive: by)云雾yún wùclouds and mist笼罩lóng zhàoto envelop。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A pictograph of curling vapour — this was the original word for ‘cloud’. Later 雨 (rain) was added to make 雲; the simplified form drops it again, back to 云.
A way to remember it
Two lines over a curl of rising vapour — a cloud.
Easy to confuse with
- 去‘To go’: a similar lower curl, but topped by 土 instead of two short lines.