隕 meaning and stroke order
To slip, to fall; to drop; to die
How to write 隕, stroke by stroke
12 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 隕
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) to fall from the sky
- variant of 殞|殒[yun3]
How 隕 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Place.
阝 gives the meaning and 員 hints at the sound.
Radical: 阝 (place), shared by 160 characters on this site.
How to remember 隕
The left side 阝 is a hill (the hint is place), and 員 (yuán) gives the sound. Picture something dropping from the sky and landing on a hill: that is 隕 (yǔn), to fall.
隕 is a bound form, so it appears inside words rather than alone. The most common are 隕石 (yǔnshí, meteorite) and 隕落 (yǔnluò, to fall, often used for a star or a great person passing away). Example: 博物館裡有一塊隕石。(Bówùguǎn lǐ yǒu yí kuài yǔnshí.) There is a meteorite in the museum.
Common mistake: Learners often read it as yuán because of the phonetic 員, but 隕 is third tone yǔn. It is also confused with 殞 (yǔn), which uses 歹 and is the more standard choice for dying, as in 殞命 (yǔnmìng).
Common words with 隕
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 隕石 | yǔnshí | meteorite; aerolite | HSK 7-9 |
| 隕落 | yǔnluò | to fall down; to decay |
Questions about 隕
How many strokes are in 隕?
隕 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 隕 mean?
隕 (yǔn) means to slip, to fall; to drop; to die. A common word with it is 陨石 (yǔnshí), meaning "meteorite; aerolite".
How do you pronounce 隕?
隕 is pronounced yǔn, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 隕?
The radical of 隕 is 阝, which carries the idea of "place". Dictionaries list 隕 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 隕?
隕 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 陨, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 隕落 and 墜落?
墜落 (zhuìluò) is the everyday word for something physically falling, like a plane. 隕落 sounds literary and is used for meteors or, figuratively, for the death or decline of a famous person.
Can 隕 be used by itself as a verb?
Not in modern speech. It is a bound form that appears in compounds such as 隕石 and 隕落, or in classical phrases.