Dictionary › 役

役

yì

HSK 6 Character

What 役 means

1. forced labor
2. corvée
3. obligatory task
4. military service
5. to use as servant
6. to enserf
7. servant (old)
8. war
9. campaign
10. battle

Example sentences

• 他在服役。
  He is on duty.
• 他的儿子正在服役。
  Tā de érzi zhèngzài fúyì.
  His son is serving his sentence.
• 他让人们摆脱了奴役。
  Tā ràng rénmen bǎituō le núyì.
  He liberated the people from bondage.
• 奴役制是一种危害人类罪。
  Slavery is a crime against humanity.
• 汤姆是一个越军退役军人。
  Tom is a Vietnam veteran.
• 这里曾是黑斯廷斯战役的战场。
  Zhèlǐ céng shì Hēisītíngsī zhànyì de zhànchǎng.
  This is the place where the battle of Hastings took place.

Words starting with 役

• 役使yì shǐto put to work (servant or animal); to make use of for labor
• 役男yì nánmales eligible for military service; draftee; abbr. for 役龄男子
• 役龄yì língenlistment age
• 役使动物yì shǐ dòng wùdraft animals; beasts of burden
• 役畜yì chùdraft animal; beast of burden

Words containing 役

• 战役zhàn yìmilitary campaign
• 退役tuì yì(of military personnel or athletes) to retire; (of outdated equipment) to be…
• 奴役nú yìto enslave
• 服役fú yìto serve in the army; in active service
• 现役xiàn yì(military) active duty; (sports) currently active (player, athlete etc)
• 苦役kǔ yìforced labor; corvée; penal servitude
• 差役chāi yìforced labor of feudal tenant (corvée); bailiff of feudal yamen
• 兵役bīng yìmilitary service
• 服兵役fú bīng yìto serve in the army
• 使役shǐ yìto use (an animal or servant); working (animal); (beast) of burden
• 劳役láo yìforced labor; corvée (labor required of a serf); animal labor
• 夫役fū yìcorvee; laborer
• 拘役jū yìdetention
• 田役tián yìfarm work
• 避役bì yìchameleon
• 杂役zá yìodd jobs; part-time worker
• 驱役qū yìto order (sb) about; (by extension) to put to use
• 预备役yù bèi yìreserve duty; reserve service; military reserve
• 平津战役Píng jīn Zhàn yìPingjin Campaign (Nov 1948-Jan 1949), one of the three major campaigns by the People's…
• 中途岛战役Zhōng tú Dǎo Zhàn yìBattle of Midway, June 1942
• 不列颠战役Bù liè diān Zhàn yìBattle of Britain (Jul-Oct 1940)
• 仆役pú yìservant
• 辽沈战役Liáo shěn Zhàn yìLiaoshen Campaign (Sep-Nov 1948), the first of the three major campaigns by the People's…
• 靖难之役jìng nán zhī yìwar of 1402 between successors of the first Ming Emperor

Characters built on 殳

These share the phonetic component 殳 (shū), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 疫yì(bound form) epidemic; plague
• 毅yìfirm and resolute; staunch
• 殹yì(archaic) (meaning unclear); (final particle)

Characters that look like 役

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 没méi(negative prefix for verbs) have not; not
• 投tóuto throw (sth in a specific direction: ball, javelin, grenade etc); to cast (a ballot)…
• 股gǔthigh; part of a whole; portion of a sum; (finance) stock; share
• 废fèito abolish; to abandon; to abrogate
• 坎kǎnpit; threshold; one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦
• 孜zīused in 孜孜

Sounds the same

Read yì, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 意(bound form) idea; thought; meaning; sense; (bound form) intention; feeling; inclination…
• 议to comment on; to discuss; to suggest
• 易easy; amiable; to change
• 亿100 million
• 亦also
• 艺skill; art
• 译to translate; to interpret
• 忆to recollect; to remember; memory
• 谊friendship; also pr. yí
• 义justice; righteousness; meaning
• 益benefit; profit; advantage
• 裔(bound form) descendants; (bound form) of ... ancestry (as in 华裔; (literary) distant lands