yín
noun #51,324

Meanings

  1. 1 boundary; limit; edge
  2. 2 bank; shore (literary)

Examples

沙漠一望无垠广阔无边
Shāmò yīwàng wúyín, guǎngkuò wúbiān.
The desert stretched on, vast and without limit.
岸边无垠大海尽收眼底
Zhàn zài ànbiān, wúyín de dàhǎi jìnshōu yǎndǐ.
Standing on the shore, the boundless sea filled his view.

Tips

usage
Mostly seen in the literary phrase 一望无垠 ('a boundless expanse as far as the eye can see'), used for deserts, plains, oceans and skies — anything that seems to have no edge.

Components

radical
earth; soil
Earth radical on the left, . It anchors the meaning in land and ground — the edge or limit of a stretch of terrain. Same family as ground, border, slope.
phonetic
gèn
(trigram for mountain); blunt
Right side is the sound element (gèn → yín). The same phonetic appears in silver and root; here it lends only its reading.

Stroke Order

yín