凌 meaning and stroke order
Pure; virtuous; to insult; to maltreat
How to write 凌, 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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- 10
Meaning of 凌
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to approach
- to rise high
- thick ice
- to insult or maltreat
How 凌 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Ice.
冫 gives the meaning and 夌 hints at the sound.
Radical: 冫 (ice), shared by 26 characters on this site.
How to remember 凌
凌 is built from 冫 (ice) on the left and 夌 (líng) on the right, which gives the sound. Picture thick ice 冫 rising high and pressing down on someone, which links to its senses of thick ice, rising high, and bullying.
凌 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese and mostly appears in set words like 凌晨 (língchén, the wee hours), 欺凌 (qīlíng, to bully) and 凌乱 (língluàn, messy). Example: 我凌晨两点才睡。(Wǒ língchén liǎng diǎn cái shuì.) I didn't go to sleep until 2 a.m.
Common mistake: Learners often write the left side as three dots 氵 instead of the two-dot ice radical 冫, or confuse 凌 with 陵 (líng, hill or tomb), which has the same right side but the 阝 radical. Remember: two dots of ice for 凌, the mound radical for 陵.
Common words with 凌
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
凌 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 凌
How many strokes are in 凌?
凌 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 凌 mean?
凌 (líng) means pure; virtuous; to insult; to maltreat. A common word with it is 凌晨 (língchén), meaning "very early in the morning; in the wee hours".
How do you pronounce 凌?
凌 is pronounced líng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 凌?
The radical of 凌 is 冫, which carries the idea of "ice". Dictionaries list 凌 under this radical.
Is 凌 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 凌 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Does 凌晨 mean the same as 早上?
No. 凌晨 refers to the hours after midnight and before dawn, roughly 0:00 to 5:00. 早上 is the normal morning after you wake up.
Why is 凌 used in 冰激凌 (ice cream)?
In 冰激凌 the 凌 mainly works as a sound to imitate the English word cream. It fits nicely because the character already carries the ice radical 冫.