Browse Words — Learn Chinese Through Stories

Every character has an origin. Discover the pictographs, myths, and history behind each Chinese character — with pinyin, stroke order, HSK level, and audio pronunciation.

起床

qǐ chuáng

起床 (qǐ chuáng) literally means 'to rise from b

起飞

qǐ fēi

起飞 (qǐ fēi) literally combines 起 (qǐ), meani

起点

qǐ diǎn

起点 (qǐ diǎn) literally combines 起 (qǐ), mean

二话不说

èr huà bù shuō

'Èr huà bù shuō' literally means 'not saying a

二百

èr bǎi

二百 (èr bǎi) is a numeral meaning 'two hundred'

第二

dì èr

第二 (dì èr) is the Chinese ordinal numeral mean

二人

èr rén

‘二人’ literally combines the numeral ‘二’ (è

二月

èr yuè

‘二月’ (èr yuè) is the Chinese name for the se

二十

èr shí

二十 (èr shí) is the Chinese numeral for 'twenty

高原

gāo yuán

高原 (gāo yuán) literally means 'high plain' —

高级

gāo jí

高级 (gāo jí) is an adjective meaning 'advanced'

高温

gāo wēn

‘高温’ literally means 'high temperature' — 高

高手

gāo shǒu

高手 literally means 'high hand'—a metaphorical e

高兴

gāo xìng

高兴 (gāo xìng) is a common adjective meaning 'h

高山

gāo shān

高山 (gāo shān) literally means 'high mountain'

水墨

shuǐ mò

Shuǐ mò (ink wash) refers to a traditional Chine

水平

shuǐ píng

水平 literally means 'water level'—combining 水 (

水果

shuǐ guǒ

‘水果’ (shuǐ guǒ) literally means ‘water frui

自来水

zì lái shuǐ

自来水 literally means 'self-coming water' — a vi

开水

kāi shuǐ

'Kāi shuǐ' literally means 'opened water', where

喝水

hē shuǐ

'Hē shuǐ' literally combines 喝 (hē), meaning '

乡里

xiāng lǐ

乡里 (xiāng lǐ) literally combines 乡 (xiāng),

公里

gōng lǐ

‘公里’ (gōng lǐ) is the standard Chinese unit

里面

lǐ miàn

'里面' (lǐ miàn) literally combines '里' (lǐ),

心里

xīn lǐ

心里 (xīn lǐ) literally means 'inside the heart'

城里

chéng lǐ

城里 (chéng lǐ) literally combines 城 (chéng),

家里

jiā lǐ

家里 (jiā lǐ) literally combines 家 (jiā), mean

电梯

diàn tī

‘电梯’ (diàn tī) literally means ‘electric la