Meaning of 宇航员
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- astronaut
How to use 宇航员
宇航员 is the standard word for astronaut in mainland China, used in news, school, and everyday talk. It often appears with verbs like 成为 (chéngwéi, to become) or 培训 (péixùn, to train). Example: 他小时候想当宇航员。(Tā xiǎoshíhou xiǎng dāng yǔhángyuán.) When he was little, he wanted to be an astronaut.
Break it into 宇 (yǔ, space or the universe) + 航 (háng, to sail or navigate) + 员 (yuán, a person with a role). A 宇航员 is literally a person who sails through space.
Common mistake: Learners often write 宇 (yǔ) as 字 (zì, character), since they differ only in the top-to-bottom stroke. 宇 has 于 underneath, and 字 has 子. Also keep the tones straight: third, second, second (yǔ háng yuán).
宇航员 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
宇 yǔ · building · 6 strokes
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航 háng · vessel · 10 strokes
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员 yuán · person engaged in a certain field of ac… · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 宇航员.
| 人员 | rényuán | staff; crew |
| 演员 | yǎnyuán | actor; actress; performer |
| 成员 | chéngyuán | member |
| 员工 | yuángōng | staff; personnel; employee |
| 队员 | duìyuán | team member |
| 服务员 | fúwùyuán | waiter; waitress |
| 会员 | huìyuán | member |
| 公务员 | gōngwùyuán | civil servant; public servant |
| 航班 | hángbān | (scheduled) flight; (scheduled) sailing |
| 运动员 | yùndòngyuán | athlete |
| 航空 | hángkōng | aviation |
| 售货员 | shòuhuòyuán | sales clerk; sales associate; retail salesperson |
Questions about 宇航员
What does 宇航员 mean?
宇航员 (yǔhángyuán) means "astronaut" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 宇航员?
宇航员 is made of 3 characters: 宇 (6 strokes), 航 (10 strokes), 员 (7 strokes). That is 23 strokes in total.
Is 宇航员 an HSK word?
Yes. 宇航员 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 宇航员 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 宇航员 is written 宇航員.
What is the difference between 宇航员 and 航天员?
Both mean astronaut. 航天员 (hángtiānyuán) is the official term China uses for its own astronauts in state media. 宇航员 is more general and is common in everyday speech and for astronauts from any country.
Is 太空人 also a word for astronaut?
Yes, 太空人 (tàikōngrén) literally means space person and is used especially in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In mainland China, 宇航员 or 航天员 sound more standard.