霝 (líng) - Dripping rain & ancient form of 零 meaning zero, fragment, or

霝Tone 2

líng ｜ 17 strokes ｜ radical:

林伦

霝 · líng

Dripping rain;

ancient form of 零 meaning zero, fragment, or to fall (as rain);

also archaic usage for spiritual or divine.

Dripping rainancient form of 零 meaning zero, fragment, oralso archaic usage for spiritual or divine.

Usage highlights

Ancient form of zeroDripping rainSpiritual connectionOracle bone script formArchaic character

Synonyms

  • 零— zero; fragment; to fall
  • 雨— rain
  • 灵— spirit; soul; effective

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The ancient character 霝 depicts dripping rain (霝).
  • It is the original form of the character for zero (零).
  • In oracle bone script, it represented rainfall (雨).
  • Used in archaic texts for spiritual matters (灵).

Collocations

  • Ancient form of zero(零)
  • Dripping rain(霝雨)
  • Spiritual connection(灵通)
  • Oracle bone script form(甲骨文霝)
  • Archaic character(古字霝)

Idioms

  • Not commonly used in modern idioms; primarily appears in classical texts and character etymology.

Cultural background

FAQ
  • One of the earliest Chinese characters found in oracle bone inscriptions, originally depicting rainfall.
  • Evolved to become the phonetic component in characters like 零 (zero), 灵 (spirit), and 霖 (continuous rain).
  • Represents an important example of how Chinese characters have developed from pictographs to modern forms.

FAQ