Meaning of 西
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- west
- the West
- abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]
- Spanish
How to use 西
西 (xī) means west and appears in many direction words like 西边 (xībian) and 西北 (xīběi). As Xī it can also mean the West or Western things, as in 西餐 (xīcān). Example: 太阳从西边落下。(Tàiyáng cóng xībian luòxià.) The sun sets in the west.
Picture 西 (xī) as a bird settling into its nest at sunset, when the sun goes down in the west. The box shape at the bottom is the nest, and the lines on top are the bird coming home for the evening.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 西 (xī) with 四 (sì, four) or 酉 (yǒu) because all three are box shapes. 西 has two short vertical strokes that bend down inside the box and a horizontal line on top that sticks out on both sides.
西 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.
西 xī · west · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 西.
| 东西 | dōngxi | east and west |
| 西边 | xībian | west; west side |
| 西方 | xīfāng | the West; the Occident |
| 西北 | xīběi | northwest |
| 西南 | xīnán | southwest |
| 西餐 | xīcān | Western-style food |
| 西医 | xīyī | Western medicine; a doctor trained in Western medicine |
| 西部 | xībù | western part |
| 西瓜 | xīguā | watermelon |
| 西装 | xīzhuāng | suit; Western-style clothes |
| 西红柿 | xīhóngshì | tomato |
| 西班牙语 | Xībānyáyǔ | Spanish language |
Questions about 西
What does 西 mean?
西 (xī) means "west" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 西?
西 is made of 1 character: 西 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 西 an HSK word?
Yes. 西 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 东西 (dōngxi) mean thing?
Read as dōngxī, 东西 literally means east and west. Read as dōngxi, with a neutral tone on 西, it means thing or stuff, as in 买东西 (mǎi dōngxi), to go shopping. Listen for the light second syllable to tell which one is meant.
In Chinese, do you say northwest or westnorth?
Chinese puts north or south first, so northwest is 西北 (xīběi) and southwest is 西南 (xīnán). The word order is west plus north, which is the reverse of English.