荫 (yīn) is a Chinese character meaning “the shade cast by trees or foliage”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 阴 (shady side; overcast; the yin principle), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes. It has a second reading, yìn, which turns up in 荫蔽 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “shade of trees”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 阴
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（对照笔顺数据核验：艹 3 画 + 阴 6 画 = 9 画）
Memory aid
Plants (艹) growing over the shady side (阴): the cool patch of shade a tree throws on the ground.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 树荫shù yīnthe shade of a tree荫 = yīn
- 林荫道lín yīn dàotree-lined avenue; boulevard荫 = yīn
Go deeper
All readings
shade of trees
the shade cast by trees or foliage
树木枝叶遮住阳光形成的阴凉处。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 树荫shù yīnthe shade of a tree荫 = yīn
- 林荫道lín yīn dàotree-lined avenue; boulevard荫 = yīn
to shade; to shelter
to shade or screen something; to shelter
遮蔽；庇护。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 荫蔽yìn bìto be sheltered or hidden by foliage荫 = yìn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 荫 mean?
荫 (yīn) means the shade cast by trees or foliage.
How do you pronounce 荫?
Its main reading is yīn. It also has a second reading, yìn, which only shows up in certain words such as 荫蔽 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 荫 sometimes pronounced yìn?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 荫蔽 it is read yìn.
What parts is 荫 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 阴 (shady side; overcast; the yin principle), one above the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（对照笔顺数据核验：艹 3 画 + 阴 6 画 = 9 画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 荫 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 荫?
艹. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 荫?
Common ones are 树荫 and 林荫道. The reading of 荫 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.