How to Write 翏 (liù) — Meaning “the sound of wind; to fly”

Imagine a feather (羽) being blown away by a strong wind, making a swooshing sound like 'liù'. This connects the feather visual to both the sound of wind and the character's pronunciation.

Write the 羽 part first, then the bottom 尢 component. A common mistake is writing the bottom as 尤 (yóu) instead of 尢, which has a shorter left stroke and a small dot on the upper left.

All three share the top 羽, but their bottoms differ: 翏 has 尢, 羿 has 廾 (two hands), and 翁 has 公 (public). Their meanings also differ: 翏 is about wind sounds, 羿 relates to archery, and 翁 means an old man.

翏 is a rare character mostly found in classical poetry and literature to describe the sound of wind, such as in 翏翏长风 (the soughing of the long wind). It is not used in everyday conversation, but you may encounter it in nature-themed texts.

Common words containing 翏 include: 翏翏 (liù liù) — the soughing sound of wind; 翏然 (liù rán) — the sound of wind blowing; 翏翏长风 (liù liù zhǎng fēng) — the soughing of the long wind.