翼 (yì) · wing (of a bird, aircraft, or building)

Meanings

1 wing (of a bird, aircraft, or building)
2 flank; side

Characters

翼

yì

wing; flank

Examples

HSK 6

飞机的左翼受损了。

Fēijī de zuǒyì shòusǔn le.

The left wing of the plane was damaged.

HSK 7-9

鸟儿展开了双翼飞翔。

Niǎor zhǎnkāi le shuāngyì fēixiáng.

The bird spread its wings and flew.

HSK 7-9

军队从两翼包围了敌人。

Jūnduì cóng liǎngyì bāowéi le dírén.

The army surrounded the enemy from both flanks.

Tips

usage

翼 is literary and formal. In everyday speech, 翅膀 is the common word for wing. 翼 appears in formal or compound words: 机翼 (aircraft wing), 左翼 (left wing), 右翼 (right wing).

grammar

小心翼翼 (extremely cautious/careful) is a common idiom using the reduplication of 翼. It literally means 'careful with careful wings' - acting with extreme caution.

Components

radical

羽 yǔ

feathers; plumage

Top 羽 - the feather radical, drawn as two paired plumes side by side. It anchors 翼 in the bird-anatomy family alongside 翅 (wing), 翎 (tail-feather), 翔 (to glide). Sitting at the top, the feathers visibly hover over the body below - the picture is plumage spread wide for flight.

phonetic

異 yì

different; strange

Bottom 異 supplies the sound - yì matches the parent reading exactly with no drift. 異 originally pictured a person holding a strange mask overhead; the upraised arms also hint faintly at outspread wings, reinforcing the picture of a bird with feathers raised on both sides.