电 (diàn) means "electricity, electric" with 5 strokes, radical 田 (field), HSK 1 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
Meaning
Primary: electricity
Other meanings:
- electric
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
The traditional form 電 is a late phono-semantic compound built from 雨 (rain) on top and 申 (which originally depicted a lightning bolt) below. There is no oracle bone form of the full character, but 申 itself appears on oracle bones as a zigzag lightning flash across the sky. So the etymology of 電 is really the etymology of 申 plus a rain classifier added later to specify the atmospheric phenomenon.
Form evolution
申 on oracle bones is a branching zigzag; in bronze and seal script it was regularised into a central vertical with side hooks, eventually becoming the modern 申 component. The compound 電 appears from seal script onward with 雨 added above. The simplified 电 drops the rain radical entirely and keeps a modified 申 shape with the final stroke hooking out, officially adopted in mainland China in the 1950s.
How the meaning evolved
The original meaning was 'lightning', the visible electrical discharge in the sky. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries 電 was repurposed to translate the Western concept of electricity, and from there it spread into every electrical compound. The lightning sense still lives in 闪电 (flash of lightning), while everyday use is almost entirely the modern 'electricity' meaning.
Cultural note
Almost every modern technology word in Chinese uses 电: 电话 (telephone, 'electric speech'), 电脑 (computer, 'electric brain'), 电影 (film, 'electric shadow'). The 'electric shadow' for cinema is a favourite example of how nineteenth-century Chinese translators built vocabulary by describing what a thing actually did.
Mnemonic
Lightning flashes through a field — electricity
Decomposition
Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.
Basic info
| Pinyin | diàn |
| Meanings | electricity, electric |
| Stroke count | 5 strokes |
| Radical | 田 (#102: field) |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 1 |
| Frequency | #33 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 电
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 打电话 | dǎ diànhuà | to call on the phone | HSK 1 |
| 电影 | diànyǐng | movie | HSK 1 |
| 电视 | diànshì | television | HSK 1 |
| 电脑 | diànnǎo | computer | HSK 1 |
| 电子邮件 | diànzǐ yóujiàn | ||
| 电梯 | diàntī | elevator | HSK 3 |
| 电池 | diànchí | Battery | HSK 5 |
| 闪电 | shǎndiàn | lightning | HSK 6 |
| 充电器 | chōngdiànqì | Charger | |
| 电台 | diàntái | radio station | HSK 7-9 |
| 充电 | chōngdiàn | to recharge | HSK 5 |
| 电 | diàn | electricity, electric | HSK 3 |
| 电报 | diànbào | telegram, cable | |
| 电灯 | diàndēng | electric light | |
| 电话 | diànhuà | telephone, phone call | HSK 1 |
| 电器 | diànqì | electrical appliance | HSK 5 |
Related characters
On the new HSK 1 exam
Studying for HSK 1? Keep 电 with the rest of your level.
HSK Lord schedules your reviews so each character comes back right before you would forget it. Free to start, and it picks up where you are.
Frequently Asked Questions
Appears in these articles
- Chinese Alphabet: Does It Exist? Everything Beginners Need to Know
- Chinese Technology Vocabulary: 80+ Words for the Digital World
- 100 Most Common Chinese Words (With Sentences & Audio)
- How Many Chinese Characters Are There? (And How Many Do You Need?)
- HSK 2 Word List 2026: All 300 Words with Examples & PDF
Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.