How to Write 镝 (dī) — Meaning “dysprosium (element)”

Think of the sound 'dī' like 'dee' and imagine a metal (钅) arrow (as in 箭镝) whistling through the air. The right side 啇 looks like a stack of two mouths (口) with a lid, which you can picture as an arrowhead hitting a target.

The left radical 钅 should be written narrow and takes 5 strokes. The right part 啷 (actually 啇) has a dot at the top (亠), then a small square (口), a downward curve (冂), and another square (口) — a common mistake is confusing it with 商 (shāng) which has different internal strokes.

镝 (dī) has the right side 啇, while 锲 (qiè) has 契 (meaning 'engrave') and 锴 (kǎi) has 皆 (meaning 'all'). Visually, 啇 features two stacked 'mouth' forms (口), whereas 契 includes a 'big' (大) element and 皆 has a 'white' (白) component on top.

镝 is primarily used as the Chinese name for the chemical element dysprosium (atomic number 66). It also appears in historical terms like 鸣镝 (whistling arrow) and technical terms like 镝灯 (dysprosium lamp), which is used in high-intensity lighting for film and stage.

Common words containing 镝 include: 鸣镝 (míng dī) — Whistling arrow; 镝灯 (dī dēng) — dysprosium lamp; 箭镝 (jiàn dī) — arrowhead.