林

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

林 (Kangxi radical 75, 木+4, 8 strokes, cangjie input 木木 (DD), four-corner 4499₀, composition ⿰木木)

Derived characters

• 㑣, 啉, 𡍚, 㛦, 崊, 㣩, 惏, 㨆, 淋, 晽, 𦝃, 𤊩, 琳, 䢞, 𪾭, 碄, 綝(𬘭), 諃, 𨂕, 醂, 𧇨, 𪳻, 𮨭(𬱾), 𣒜, 彬, 郴, 㪔, 𬃂, 𬃴, 䫐(𬃲), 𠓭, 冧, 𠩵, 㚞, 㝝, 𡹇, 麻, 𣇰, 森, 菻, 𠄻, 痳, 罧, 𥦝, 𪩦, 𦋗, 箖, 𧇃, 𤾓, 䦥, 霖, 𧇥, 𠐙, 𬴫, 𪎦, 𣟒
• 𣑽, 𫦯, 㭝, 𠵂, 埜, 梦, 𡘽, 婪, 𡹚, 梵, 梺, 椘, 𢛓, 𫿱, 𣈅, 𣓏, 𪵝, 焚, 㷊, 棼, 棽, 棾, 𣓕, 𣓴, 𪲡, 𬂽, 榃, 楚, 𥁹, 𥓙, 禁, 𣕯, 𣕽, 𣕾, 𪲵, 𫱒, 𬃕, 𬃚, 𧛀, 𧩋, 𧯴, 𧼖, 䠂, 辳, 㯄, 𧹫, 𪳟, 𨨗, 樷, 㯟, 㯬, 𪳯, 𬄜, 檒(𮨴), 𣜕, 𨤳, 𪳽, 𬄰, 𩤆, 𣝹, 㰈, 𬷞, 麓, 𧰔, 𬅐, 𬅛, 𮟝, 𣫓

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 516, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14551
• Dae Jaweon: page 903, character 19
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1164, character 7
• Unihan data for U+6797

• Unihan data for U+F9F4

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 林
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Duplication of 木 (“tree”) to give the idea of multiple trees (compare 森), thus a forest.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ram (“jungle; forest; country; field”) (STEDT). Cognate with 森 (OC *srɯm, “forest”), Mizo ram (“forest; country”), Karbi ram (“jungle”).

Or perhaps an area word (Schuessler, 2007), shared with Khmer រាម (riəm, “thick bushy jungle that grows along a stream”), Old Khmer *rām (“inundated forest along a watercourse”), Old Khmer sarāma ~ sarāṃ (“a tract of stunted vegetation”), Mon ရာံ (rèm, “copse; patch of woodland”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

林

1. forest; grove; woods

   竹林  ―  zhúlín  ―  bamboo forest

   防風林／防风林  ―  fángfēnglín  ―  windbreak; shelterbelt

2. circle; community; group of similar people or things

   武林  ―  wǔlín  ―  martial arts world

3. forestry
4. a surname, commonly romanized as Lin, Lim, and Lam

   林默娘  ―  Lín Mòniáng  ―  Lin Moniang (a Chinese sea goddess also known by several other names and titles)

   林彪  ―  Lín Biāo  ―  Lin Biao (a Marshal of the People's Republic of China)

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• → English: Lin, Lam, Lum, Lim
• → Tagalog: Lim

Further reading

• “Entry #4208”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: りん (rin, Jōyō)^{←りん (rin, historical)←りむ (rimu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: りん (rin, Jōyō)^{←りん (rin, historical)←りむ (rimu, ancient)}
• Kun: はやし (hayashi, 林, Jōyō)^{←はやし (fayasi, 林, historical)}; おおい (ōi, 林い)^{←おほい (ofoi, 林い, historical)}
• Nanori: き (ki); きみ (kimi); しげ (shige); しげる (shigeru); とき (toki); ふさ (fusa); もと (moto); もり (mori); よし (yoshi)

Compounds

• 林(りん)檎(ご) (ringo, “apple”)
• 少(しょう)林(りん) (Shōrin, “Shaolin”)

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. First mentioned in the Man'yōshū, completed in 759 CE.

Derives from the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 生やす (hayasu, “to grow”). The root verb is in the transitive form, suggesting that the original sense of hayashi may have indicated a deliberately planted or managed grove.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) はやし​ (Odaka – )
• (Tokyo) はやし (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

林(はやし) • (hayashi) 

1. a grove, woods, copse
2. (figurative) a forest of something

Derived terms

See also

• 森(もり) (mori, “forest”, generally larger than a hayashi)

Proper noun

林(はやし) • (Hayashi) 

1. a surname
2. a female given name

Etymology 2

/rimʉ/ → /riɴ/

From Middle Chinese 林 (MC lim).

Affix

林(りん) • (rin) 

1. grove, forest, woods, copse
2. gathering
3. lined up

Derived terms

Proper noun

林(りん) • (Rin) 

1. a surname
2. (rare) a female given name

Usage notes

As a surname, this reading is more often used by people of Chinese ancestry, since it is similar to the Mandarin Chinese reading of Lín.

References

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 林 (MC lim). Recorded as Middle Korean 림 (lim) (Yale: lim) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

林

Wikisource

林 (eumhun 수풀 림 (supul rim), South Korea 수풀 임 (supul im))

1. Hanja form^? of 림/임 (“forest”).

Compounds

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

林: Hán Nôm readings: lâm, Lâm

1. forest
2. gathering
3. dense
4. chữ Hán form of Lâm (“a surname from Chinese.”).

References

• Hán Việt Tự Điển Thiều Chửu v. 3.0, http://vietnamtudien.org/thieuchuu, http://vietnamtudien.org/thieuchuu/&h75.htm#26519