How to Write 锂 (lǐ) — Meaning “Lithium”

Think of a metal (钅) that is so light it can float inside (里) water — that’s lithium! Imagine a small piece of lithium metal sitting inside a glass of water, bubbling and moving around. This visual links the metal radical with the inside radical to recall the character for lithium.

Write the left radical 钅 first: three horizontal strokes, then a vertical hook, followed by two short horizontal strokes. Then write the right part 里: start with the top field 日 (four strokes) and finally the bottom two strokes (horizontal and vertical). A common mistake is making the left side too wide — keep 钅 narrow so the character fits well as a square.

锂 (lǐ) means lithium and uses the phonetic component 里, while 钰 (yù) means precious jade or metal and contains 玉 (jade) for sound. 钱 (qián) means money or coin, with 戋 as phonetic. Visually, 锂 has 里 inside, 钰 has 玉, and 钱 has 戋; their meanings are completely unrelated despite sharing the metal radical.

锂 appears most often in technical and industrial terms, especially 锂电池 (lǐ diàn chí), meaning lithium battery, which powers phones and electric cars. You also see it in 金属锂 (jīn shǔ lǐ, lithium metal) for chemistry and 锂矿 (lǐ kuàng, lithium mine) in mining news. With the rise of electric vehicles, 锂 has become a common character in discussions about clean energy and technology.

Common words containing 锂 include: 锂电池 (lǐ diàn chí) — Lithium battery; 金属锂 (jīn shǔ lǐ) — Lithium metal; 锂矿 (lǐ kuàng) — Lithium mine.