熒 (yíng) - Ying — originally meaning a flickering, glimmering light & also refers to the firefly insect

熒Tone 2

yíng ｜ 14 strokes ｜ radical:

樱咏

熒 · yíng

Ying — originally meaning a flickering, glimmering light;

also refers to the firefly insect;

used in words describing faint light or shimmering.

Ying — originally meaning a flickering, glimmering lightalso refers to the firefly insectused in words describing faint light or shimmering.

Usage highlights

fireflyflickering lightfluorescentglowingscreenglimmer

Synonyms

  • 萤— firefly (insect)
  • 光— light
  • 亮— bright

Antonyms

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The firefly emits a faint light (荧火虫).
  • The screen flickered in the dark (荧屏 flickered).
  • The stars twinkled in the night sky (荧荧的星光).

Collocations

  • firefly(荧火虫)
  • flickering light(荧荧)
  • fluorescent(荧光的)
  • glowing(荧惑)
  • screen(荧屏)
  • glimmer(荧荧发光)

Idioms

  • Flickering light of the firefly(荧荧之光)
  • Confused and dazzled(荧惑不解)
  • The faint light of a firefly and the gleam of snow(萤窗雪案)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • The character originally depicted the flickering light of a fire, later extended to describe any faint, shimmering light source.
  • In ancient texts, 荧惑 (Yinghuo) was the name for the planet Mars, associated with fire and confusion in Chinese astrology.
  • Fireflies (荧火虫) have long been poetic symbols of transient beauty and faint illumination in Chinese literature.

FAQ