宙
Tap the pinyin to hear it
eternity; (geology) eon
- HSK 3.0
- Level 7–9
- Old HSK
- Level 6
- Strokes
- 8
- Radical
- 宀 +5
- Structure
- Top–bottom 上下
- Traditional
- 宙
- Common rank
- #2,595
- Unicode
- U+5B99
Sound it out + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 宙 is formed
Phono-semantic compound (形声字)
宀 meaning “roof - the sky” + 由 sound ()
How to remember it
universe · Heisig RSH #2168
house + sprout
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 宙
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 宙斯盾战斗系统 | Aegis Combat System (weapons system developed for the US Navy) | |
| 太古宙 | Archaean (geological eon before 2500m years ago) | |
| 元古宙 | pre-Cambrian (geological eon 2500-645m) | |
| 平行宇宙 | parallel universe | |
| 隐生宙 | Cryptozoic; geological eon before the appearance of abundant fossils; hidden life, as oppo… | |
| 显生宙 | Phanerozoic, geological eon lasting since the Cambrian 寒武紀|寒武纪[Han2 wu3 ji4], c. 540m year… | |
| 多元宇宙 | multiverse (cosmology) | |
| 宇宙射线 | cosmic ray | |
| 宇宙速度 | escape velocity | |
| 宇宙飞船 | spaceship; spacecraft | |
| 宙斯 | Zeus | |
| 宇宙学 | cosmology | |
| 宇宙线 | cosmic ray | |
| 宇宙号 | Kosmos, series of earth-orbit satellites operated by the Soviet Union and subsequently Rus… | |
| 元宇宙 | (computing) metaverse | |
| 宇宙观 | world view; conception of the universe | |
| 宇宙 | universe; cosmos; space |
Sound family
Characters sharing the sound component 由 — compare how they read.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 由 sound part | cause, reason; from | |
| 油 | oil, fat, grease, lard; oil paints | |
| 抽 | to draw out, to pull out; to sprout | |
| 轴 | axle, pivot, shaft; axis | |
| 邮 | mail; post office | |
| 袖 | sleeve | |
| 鼬 | weasel, mustela itatis | |
| 铀 | uranium | |
| 釉 | enamel, glaze | |
| 岫 | mountain peak; cave, cavern | |
| 柚 | grapefruit, pomelo | |
| 蚰 | millipede | |
| 妯 | sister-in law | |
| 舳 | the stern of a ship |