夕
xī
evening, night, dusk; slanted
Meaning
- Primary: Evening, dusk, or the transition from day to night.
- Secondary (Rare): Slanted or leaning.
Grammar and usage
- Function: Primarily a noun of time.
- Attributive Use: Frequently serves as a modifier for following nouns or verbs without requiring a formal particle.
Distinctions
- 夕 vs. 夜: 夕 typically denotes the process of becoming dark (dusk/evening) and the timing associated with it; 夜 refers to the state of being dark (night/deep night).
- Temporal Focus: Use often emphasizes the specific timing of an event rather than the quality of the darkness itself.
Translator notes
- Idiomatic Pairing 朝夕 (zhāo xī): Literally "morning and evening," frequently used idiomatically to mean "constantly" or to denote a state of close intimacy/persistence.
- Diurnal Cycles: Often paired with 旦 (dawn) to establish the rhythmic cycle of a day.
Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.