电/電 diàn — electricity; lightning; a telegram; to give an electric shock

Pinyin

• diàn (fourth tone, falling)

electricity; lightning; a telegram; to give an electric shock

Character breakdown

• 电shape partA lightning bolt zigzagging down with its tail trailing. The traditional 電 sets the rain 雨 above it; simplification kept only the bolt, which now looks like a field 田 with a hook.

Mnemonic

Lightning coming out of a cloud: the traditional 電 has the rain 雨 on top, and the simplified 电 is the bolt on its own, its tail curling away below. Because it was lightning first, it became the word for electricity, and it now opens a long list of modern nouns: 电话, 电视, 电脑, 电影, 电子邮件, 电梯.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 电

• 电影/電影diànyǐng (fourth tone, falling)film, movie
• 电视/電視diànshì (fourth tone, falling)television
• 电脑/電腦diànnǎo (fourth tone, falling)computer
• 打电话/打電話dǎ (third tone, dipping) diànhuà (fourth tone, falling)to make a phone call
• 电梯/電梯diàntī (fourth tone, falling)lift, elevator
• 电子邮件/電子郵件diànzǐ (fourth tone, falling) yóujiàn (second tone, rising)email, electronic mail

Radical 田 — other characters

• 男nán (second tone, rising)man, male
• 田tián (second tone, rising)a field, cultivated land; Tian, a surname