Meaning of 洋
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- ocean
- vast
- foreign
- silver dollar or coin
How to use 洋
洋 appears mostly in compounds. It can mean ocean, as in 海洋 (hǎiyáng), or something foreign, as in 洋葱 (yángcōng, onion). Example: 太平洋很大。(Tàipíngyáng hěn dà.) The Pacific Ocean is very big.
洋 (yáng) has the water radical 氵 on the left and 羊 (yáng, sheep) on the right. Picture waves rolling like a huge flock of white sheep across the ocean, and 羊 also gives the sound yáng.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 洋 with 样 (yàng, appearance), which uses the wood radical 木 instead of water and has a fourth tone. Another common slip is using 洋 by itself to mean ocean when everyday speech uses 海洋 or 大海 instead.
洋 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.
洋 yáng · ocean · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 洋.
| 海洋 | hǎiyáng | ocean |
| 洋溢 | yángyì | brimming with; steeped in |
| 出洋相 | chū yángxiàng | to make a fool of oneself |
| 汪洋 | wāngyáng | vast body of water |
| 喜洋洋 | xǐyángyáng | radiant with joy |
| 洋葱 | yángcōng | onion (Allium cepa); bulb onion |
| 大洋 | dàyáng | ocean; (old) silver dollar |
| 洋娃娃 | yángwáwa | doll (of Western appearance) |
| 洋流 | yángliú | ocean current |
| 洋人 | yángrén | foreigner; (esp.) Westerner |
| 洋装 | yángzhuāng | Western-style dress |
| 洋鬼子 | yángguǐzi | foreign devil; term of abuse for Westerners |
Questions about 洋
What does 洋 mean?
洋 (yáng) means "ocean; vast" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 洋?
洋 is made of 1 character: 洋 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 洋 an HSK word?
Yes. 洋 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 海 and 洋?
海 (hǎi) usually means a sea, often one near land, like 东海 (Dōnghǎi, East China Sea). 洋 refers to the great oceans, like 大西洋 (Dàxīyáng, Atlantic Ocean). Together, 海洋 is the general word for ocean.
Why does 洋 mean foreign?
Many foreign goods and ideas came to China from across the ocean, so 洋 came to mark things from abroad. You see this in words like 洋葱 (yángcōng, onion) and 洋人 (yángrén, foreigner). 洋人 can sound dated, so it is better to say 外国人 (wàiguórén) today.