云母

雲母

yúnmǔ

noun #34,211

Meanings

1 mica (the mineral)
2 any of a group of silicate minerals that split into thin sheets

Characters

Examples

云母是一种常见的造岩矿物。

Yúnmǔ shì yì zhǒng chángjiàn de zàoyán kuàngwù.

Mica is a common rock-forming mineral.

云母可以分成很薄的片。

Yúnmǔ kěyǐ fēn chéng hěn báo de piàn.

Mica can be split into very thin sheets.

云母在电气工业中很有用。

Yúnmǔ zài diànqì gōngyè zhōng hěn yǒuyòng.

Mica is very useful in the electrical industry.

Tips

memory

Literally 'cloud mother' — Chinese ancients thought clouds were born from mica (because mica's translucent flakes look like fragments of cloud). The folk name 千层纸 ('thousand-layer paper') captures the same idea: stacks of paper-thin sheets.

Stroke Order

云 yún

母 mǔ