胤 (yìn): descendant; heir; offspring

Meanings

1 descendant; heir; offspring
2 to inherit; to carry on a line

Characters

胤

yìn

descendant; heir

Examples

他是皇室唯一的后胤。

Tā shì huángshì wéiyī de hòuyìn.

He was the only heir of the imperial house.

家族血胤世代相传。

Jiāzú xuèyìn shìdài xiāngchuán.

The clan's bloodline was passed down generation after generation.

Tips

culture

Formal and classical, meaning a continued bloodline, as in 后胤 (descendants). It is well known as the shared generational character in the given names of the Qing emperor 胤禛 (the Yongzheng Emperor) and his many brothers.

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

flesh; meat radical

The flesh radical (a form of 肉), not the moon. It marks the blood-and-body link, the physical continuation of a family line.

semantic

儿 ér

child; legs

An outer frame split front and back around the rest, derived from a person shape. It carries the idea of a child or successor in the bloodline. Its two strokes wrap the inner parts rather than sitting together.

semantic

幺 yāo

tiny; thread

A small silk-thread shape inside, suggesting an unbroken thread. Here it pictures the continuing line passed from one generation to the next.