霖

lín
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 continuous rain; prolonged rain

Examples

HSK 6
Fán yǔ sānrì yǐwǎng wéi lín.
Rain lasting three days or more is called lín.

Tips

history
霖 has no everyday standalone use today. In classical texts it meant rain that fell for three days or more without stopping; it now survives mainly in personal names and the compound 甘霖 (welcome rain).
register
Literary; for ordinary continuous rain people say 连绵 的雨 in speech.

Components

radical
雨 yǔ
rain
雨 (rain) sits on top as the meaning radical, marking this as a kind of rain - here unbroken, prolonged downpour.
phonetic
林 lín
forest; woods
林 gives the sound lín exactly; it is also the phonetic in 淋 (to drench) and 琳.

Stroke Order

霖 lín