冥 meaning and stroke order
Dark, gloomy, night; deep
How to write 冥, stroke by stroke
10 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 冥
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- dark
- deep
- stupid
- the underworld
- old variant of 冥[ming2]
How 冥 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. The sun 日, covered 冖, with 六 providing the pronunciation.
Radical: 冖 (cover), shared by 14 characters on this site.
How to remember 冥
Picture the sun 日 with a cover 冖 pulled over it, so the light is gone and everything turns dark. The 六 at the bottom was there to hint at the sound, so think of six hours of deep night under that lid.
On its own 冥 sounds literary, but it appears in common words about darkness, the afterlife, or deep thought, such as 冥想 (míngxiǎng, meditation) and 冥界 (míngjiè, the underworld). Example: 我每天早上冥想十分钟。(Wǒ měitiān zǎoshang míngxiǎng shí fēnzhōng.) I meditate for ten minutes every morning.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 冥 with 名 (míng, name) or 明 (míng, bright) because they share the same sound and tone. 明 is the opposite in meaning, with the sun out in the open, while 冥 has the sun covered by 冖.
Common words with 冥
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 冥想 | míngxiǎng | to meditate; meditation | |
| 冥界 | míngjiè | ghost world |
冥 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 冥
Learning 冥 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 冥
How many strokes are in 冥?
冥 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 冥 mean?
冥 (míng) means dark, gloomy, night; deep. A common word with it is 冥想 (míngxiǎng), meaning "to meditate; meditation".
How do you pronounce 冥?
冥 is pronounced míng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 冥?
The radical of 冥 is 冖, which carries the idea of "cover". Dictionaries list 冥 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 冥?
The traditional form of 冥 is 㝠. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 冥 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What does 冥冥之中 mean?
冥冥之中 (míngmíng zhī zhōng) means something like "in the unseen realm" or "as if by fate." People say it when events seem guided by an invisible force, as in 冥冥之中自有安排, "fate has its own plan."
Is 冥王星 the Chinese name for Pluto?
Yes. 冥王星 (Míngwángxīng) means "star of the king of the underworld," which matches Pluto, the Roman god of the dead. The 冥 here carries its underworld sense.