林

林 U+6797, 林 ← 枖[U+6796] CJK Unified Ideographs 枘 →[U+6798] 林 U+F9F4, 林 ← 麟[U+F9F3] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 淋 →[U+F9F5] Stroke order

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

• 㑣, 啉, 㛦, 崊, 㣩, 惏, 㨆, 淋, 晽, 琳, 䢞, 碄, 綝 (𬘭), 諃, 醂
• 彬, 郴, 㪔, 䫐 (𬃲), 冧, 㚞, 㝝, 麻, 森, 菻, 痳, 罧, 箖, 䦥, 霖
• 㭝, 埜, 梦, 婪, 梵, 梺, 椘, 焚, 㷊, 棼, 棽, 棾, 榃, 楚, 禁, 䠂, 辳, 㯄, 樷, 㯟, 㯬, 檒 (𮨴), 㰈, 麓

• 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

simp. and trad. 林

Duplication of 木 (“tree”) to give the idea of multiple trees (compare 森), thus a forest. See also the top component of 散 in its original version.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *rəm (“jungle; forest; country; field”) (STEDT under PTB *ram). 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”).

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)

Others:

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

• “林”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2026.

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

• 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)

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

Kanji in this term 林 はやしGrade: 1 kun’yomi

From Old Japanese. First mentioned in the Man’yōshū, completed in 759 CE.[1]

Derives from the 連用形 (ren’yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 生やす (hayasu, “to grow”).[1] The root verb is in the transitive form, suggesting that the original sense of hayashi may have indicated a deliberately planted or managed grove.

• (Tokyo) はやし [hàyáshíꜜ] (Odaka – [3])[2][3][4]
• (Tokyo) はやし [hàyáshí] (Heiban – [0])[2][3][4]
• IPA(key): [ha̠ja̠ɕi]

林(はやし) • (hayashi)

1. [from 759] a grove, woods, copse
2. [from 759] (figurative) a forest of something

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

林(はやし) • (Hayashi)

1. a surname
2. a female given name

Kanji in this term 林 りんGrade: 1 on’yomi

/rimʉ/ → /riɴ/

From Middle Chinese 林 (MC lim).

林(りん) • (rin)

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

林(りん) • (Rin)

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

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.

• “林”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015-2026

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

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

1. hanja form? of 림/임 (“forest”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

林: Hán Việt readings: lâm[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] 林: Nôm readings: lăm[1][3][4][5][7][8][9], lầm[1][3][4][5][7][8][9], lâm[1][2][7][9], lim[1][3][5], lom[1][3][5], lùm[4][5][9], rầm[1][2], trăm[1][2], lum[3][4], rằm[1], rậm[1], trắm[1], lắm[2], luộm[4], lờm[7]

1. chữ Hán form of lâm (“(in compounds) forest”)
2. chữ Hán form of Lâm (“a surname from Chinese”)
3. chữ Nôm form of lầm (“to make a mistake; to be mistaken”)
4. chữ Nôm form of lim
   1. kind of fine timber native to Vietnam (Erythrophleum fordii)
   2. used in lim dim (“eyes half-closed because of sleepiness”)
5. chữ Nôm form of lom (“used in lom khom (“bending (of one’s body); stooping”)”)
6. chữ Nôm form of rằm (“the 15th day of a lunar month, the day of a full moon, on which some Vietnamese people place offerings on their altars and pray for good luck”)
7. chữ Nôm form of rậm (“dense”)
8. chữ Nôm form of trăm (“hundred”)
9. chữ Nôm form of trắm (“pike (any carnivorous freshwater fish of the genus Esox)”)