How to Write 镭 (léi) — Meaning “Radium”

Imagine a thunderstorm (雷) striking a piece of metal (钅), causing it to glow with deadly radioactive light — that is radium. The "metal thunder" image helps you recall both the pronunciation and the meaning of this rare element.

Pay attention to the left radical 钅: it should be written narrow and slightly taller, with the first two strokes as a short left-falling stroke and a horizontal stroke that angles upward. The right part 雷 has a character 田 at the top and 雨 below; make sure the 田 is centered and the 雨 is wide enough to cover it, without making the character too crowded.

镭 (radium) has the phonetic 雷, while 镖 (biāo, dart or escort) uses 票, and 镗 (tāng, a boring machine or drum sound) uses 堂. Visually, 镭 has the 雷 (rain over field) on the right, 镖 has 票 (ticket), and 镗 has 堂 (hall). Their meanings are completely unrelated despite sharing the metal radical.

镭 appears mainly in scientific and historical contexts, such as 镭元素 (radium element) and 镭疗 (radium therapy, an early cancer treatment). It is also used in the common loanword 镭射 (léi shè) meaning "laser," which is widely seen in products like 镭射影碟 (laserdisc). Due to radium's radioactive danger, the character may also appear in warnings about nuclear materials.

Common words containing 镭 include: 镭射 (léi shè) — Laser; 镭元素 (léi yuán sù) — Radium element; 镭疗 (léi liáo) — Radium therapy.