意 yì — idea; meaning; wish; desire; (abbr.) Italy
谢谢你的好意。Xiè xie nǐ de hǎo yì.Thank you for your kindness.
Common words: 愿意 (yuàn yì)、意思 (yì si)、意见 (yì jiàn)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "meaning"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "meaning", including 意 (yì), 义 (yì). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words, and examples.
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "meaning" covers 2 different Chinese characters — 意 (yì), 义 (yì) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 2 characters happen to share the reading yì, so lean on the words and written forms to tell them apart. The example sentences further down show how 意 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 意 yìidea; meaning; wish; desire; (abbr.) ItalyUseful words: 愿意, 意思
- 义 yìjustice; righteousness; meaningUseful words: 意义, 义务
Common words for these 2 "meaning" characters
Anchor each of these 2 characters in a word you can picture — start with 意 (yì) — so "meaning" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
愿意yuàn yìto wish; to want; ready; willing (to do sth)意思yì siidea; opinion; meaning; wish意见yì jiànidea; opinion; suggestion; objection意义yì yìsense; meaning; significance; importance义务yì wùduty; obligation (; volunteer (work etc)含义hán yìmeaning (implicit in a phrase); implied meaning; hidden meaning; hint
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 2 ways to say "meaning".
义 yì — justice; righteousness; meaning
帮助别人是我们的义务。Bāng zhù bié ren shì wǒ men de yì wù.Helping others is our duty.
Common words: 意义 (yì yì)、义务 (yì wù)、含义 (hán yì)
All 2 characters
Open 意、义 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.