niè
noun #18,894

Meanings

  1. 1 nickel (chemical element, symbol Ni)

Examples

HSK 7-9
Niè cháng yòngyú zhìzào bùxiùgāng hé yìngbì.
Nickel is commonly used in manufacturing stainless steel and coins.
HSK 7-9
Zhè méi yìngbì hányǒu dàliàng de niè.
This coin contains a large amount of nickel.

Tips

memory
has the metal radical on the left - a clue it's a metallic element. The pronunciation niè sounds like the German Nickel, the word's origin.

Components

radical
jīn
metal; gold (left-side radical of 金)
Left metal radical, the simplified left-side form of . Carries the meaning: is the chemical element nickel, one of dozens of modern element names coined by adding the metal radical to a phonetic body. Same pattern as copper, iron, aluminium, sodium.
phonetic
niè
standard; target
Right supplies the sound niè directly. Originally meant a measuring post or target arrow used as a standard, but in it functions purely as a phonetic frame. Modern Chinese element names are designed this way - a phonetic chosen to match the foreign sound (nickel → niè), plus the radical naming the category (metal).

Stroke Order

niè