林

lín
noun #2,023

Meanings

  1. 1 woods
  2. 2 forest
  3. 3 circles

Examples

HSK 4
Wǒ jiā hòumian yǒu yí piàn xiǎo shùlín.
There is a small wood behind my house.
HSK 5
Wǒmen zài sēnlín lǐ mílù le.
We got lost in the forest.

Tips

usage
Two 木 (trees) side by side - many trees make a forest.

Components

radical
木 mù
tree (radical)
Left tree - the indexing radical, slightly compressed so the bottom-right diagonal becomes a dot to make room for the second tree. This is the standard left-position contraction of 木 found in 桃 peach, 松 pine, 林 forest. The radical anchors 林 in the family of woody plants.
semantic
木 mù
tree (semantic)
Right tree - full unconstrained shape with all four strokes intact. Two trees side by side make a small grove: classic compound ideograph where doubling is the entire point. Stack three trees and you get 森 (forest, denser than 林). Doubling is the visual root of collective-tree words.

Stroke Order

林 lín