yíng
noun #15,715

Meanings

  1. 1 fly (insect)

Examples

Yī zhī cāngyíng fēi jìn le fángjiān.
A fly flew into the room.
Zhèlǐ yíng chóng hěnduō.
There are many flies and insects here.

Tips

usage
on its own is literary. In everyday speech, the full word 苍蝇 (cāngyíng) is used for 'fly.' Common compounds: (yíngpāi, flyswatter), 果蝇 (guǒyíng, fruit fly).

Components

radical
chóng
insect; bug
on the left places in the insect family alongside (mosquito), (ant), and (butterfly). The radical marks anything that creeps, buzzes, or wriggles.
phonetic
miǎn
frog; toad
once depicted a squat frog and gives a contracted phonetic hint that drifted toward yíng. The shape suggests something low-slung and quick to dart, fitting the fly's hovering motion above all the bug already promises.

Stroke Order

yíng