How to Write 铱 (yī) — Meaning “Iridium”

Imagine a metal (钅) coat (衣) made of iridium — a shiny, expensive metal used in fountain pen tips. This visual of a "metal clothing" helps link the components to the element's name.

Write the left radical 钅 first (5 strokes: horizontal, horizontal, vertical, left-falling, dot). Then write 衣 on the right with 6 strokes: dot, horizontal, left-falling, vertical hook, left-falling, right-falling. A common mistake is writing the right part's vertical hook too short or confusing it with 衣's stroke order.

All three share the metal radical 钅, but differ in their right parts and meanings. 铱 (yī) means iridium, 钙 (gài) means calcium, and 钚 (bù) means plutonium. Visually, 铱 has 衣 on the right, while 钙 has 丐 and 钚 has 不.

铱 appears mainly in scientific contexts for the element iridium, and in common words like 铱金笔 (yī jīn bǐ, an iridium-point pen) and 铱星 (yī xīng, the Iridium satellite system). It is not part of the HSK vocabulary and is rarely used in everyday conversation.

Common words containing 铱 include: 铱金笔 (yī jīn bǐ) — Iridium-point pen; 铱星 (yī xīng) — Iridium (satellite); 铱元素 (yī yuán sù) — The element iridium.