How to Write 漪 (yī) — Meaning “ripple”

Imagine a pond of water (氵) where a strange (猗) pattern of rings spreads out. The word "strange" sounds like the first part of "strange ripple" to link 猗 with the meaning.

Start with the left radical 氵 (three strokes: dot, dot, lift), then write the right side 猗: first the dog radical 犭, then 奇 (big 大 on top of 可). A common mistake is to write the top of 奇 as 大 without its horizontal stroke properly extending.

漪 means "ripple" and is used in poetic descriptions of water. 渝 means "to change" (as in 始终不渝), and 渡 means "to cross" a river or obstacle. Visually, 漪 has 猗 on the right, while 渝 has 俞 and 渡 has 度.

漪 is not common in everyday speech but appears in literary or classical contexts, especially in the word 涟漪 (lián yī, ripples) to describe gentle water waves. It is often found in poetry and nature writing to create a calm, elegant image.

Common words containing 漪 include: 涟漪 (lián yī) — ripples; 漪澜 (yī lán) — ripples; 清漪 (qīng yī) — clear ripples.