飞/飛 fēi — to fly; to flit, to dart; swiftly, at speed

Pinyin

• fēi (first tone, high and level)

to fly; to flit, to dart; swiftly, at speed

Character breakdown

• 飞shape partOne wing and its feathers. The traditional 飛 draws the whole bird — neck and head thrown forward, both wings beating — and simplification kept a third of it.

Mnemonic

Three strokes, and they are one wing of the traditional 飛 with its feathers: the bird has flown and left a single pinion behind. Note that it is a radical in its own right and heads almost nothing else — the section exists for this one word. 飞机 an aeroplane, 坐飞机 to fly somewhere, 飞行员 a pilot.

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 飞

• 飞机/飛機fēijī (first tone, high and level)aeroplane, plane
• 起飞/起飛qǐfēi (third tone, dipping)to take off (of an aircraft)