Li

See also: Appendix:Variations of "li"

Translingual

Symbol

Li

1. (chemistry) Chemical symbol for lithium.

English

Etymology 1

Transcription of 李 (Lǐ)

Alternative forms

• (Chinese name): Lee

Proper noun

Li

1. A surname from Chinese
   • 2024 March 18, Nectar Gan and Yong Xiong, “A dissident in Europe is enraging Beijing. Now Chinese police are coming for his social media followers”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Under the post, Li shared screenshots of private messages he received from followers who said they were interrogated by police.

Derived terms

• Li-Fraumeni syndrome

Translations

Li: the Chinese surname (李)

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 李 (yue) (lei⁵)

  Mandarin: 李 (zh) (Lǐ)

• Japanese: 李 (ja) (り, Ri)
• Korean: (South Korea) 이(李) (ko) (I), (North Korea, in South Korea after a vowel) 리(李) (ko) (Ri)
• Russian: Ли (ru) (Li)
• Vietnamese: Lý (李)
• Zhuang: Lij

Etymology 2

Transcription of 黎 (Lí)

Alternative forms

• Lai (via Cantonese)
• Le (via Vietnamese)

Proper noun

Li

1. A surname from Chinese

Translations

Li: the Chinese surname (黎)

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 黎 (lai⁴)

  Mandarin: 黎 (zh) (Lí)

Etymology 3

Transcription of 理 (Lǐ)

Proper noun

Li

1. A surname from Chinese

Translations

Li: the Chinese surname (理)

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 理 (lei⁵)

  Mandarin: 理 (zh) (Lǐ)

Etymology 4

From Mandarin 禮 / 礼 (Lǐ).

Proper noun

Li

1. A county of Longnan, Gansu, China
   • [1995 October, “Qishan Fort: Zhuge's Commanding Camp”, in China Tourism‎^[2], number 183, H.K. China Tourism Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 56, column 1:

     The West Hanshui River flows through the flatland of Qishan Township east of Lixian County, Gansu Province. […]
     Zhuge launched his first northern expedition. He arrived at Qishan Mountain in Lixian County, where he set up his headquarters on the shore of the West Hanshui River.]

Translations

county

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 禮 / 礼 (zh) (Lǐ)

Further reading

• Saul B. Cohen, editor (1998), “Li Xian”, in The Columbia Gazetteer of the World‎^[3], volume 2, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 1728, column 2

Etymology 5

Transcription of 漓 (Lí)

Proper noun

Li

1. A river in Guangxi, China
   • 1977, Yee Chiang, “Kuei-lin and Yang-shuo”, in China Revisited‎^[4], New York: W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 153:

     After breakfast the next day, Ho Li-chih came to invite Yang Shu-tien and me to the Li River for a boat trip to another county, Yang-shuo.

   • 1985, Steven W. Mosher, Journey To The Forbidden China‎^[5], Collier Macmillan, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 54f:

     Cormorant fishing on the Li River near Kweilin. With increasingly serious water pollution, fishing with cormorants is becoming a rare sight in China.

   • 2005, Bill Clinton, My Life‎^[6], volume II, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 436–437:

     Before going home, we flew to Guilin for a meeting with environmentalists concerned about the destruction of forests and the loss of unique wildlife, and a leisurely boat trip down the Li River, which flows through a stunning landscape marked by large limestone formations that looked as if they had burst up through the landscape of the gentle countryside.

   • 2011, Andrew Forbes, China‎^[7], APA Publications, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 16:

     Days 3-5: Guilin and Yangshuo.
     Marvel at the extraordinary scenery lining the banks of the serene Li River.

   • 2021 April 27, Echo Xie, “Xi Jinping laments stone quarrying as he mines green theme in Guangxi”, in South China Morning Post‎^[8], archived from the original on 27 April 2021, China / Politics:

     In Guilin, the second-largest city in Guangxi, Xi took a boat to inspect the ecological condition of the Li River, a popular tourist destination. The river stretches more than 400km (250 miles) through karst hills and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Li.

Translations

river

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 漓 (zh) (Lí)

Etymology 6

From Korean 이(李) (I) and 리(李) (Ri).

Alternative forms

• Lee, Rhee, Ri, I, Yi, Rey, Rhie

Proper noun

Li

1. A surname from Korean, a variant of Lee and Rhee

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Li is the 273^rd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 111,786 individuals. Li is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (96.8%) individuals.

Anagrams

• I'l, IL, il-

Cebuano

Alternative forms

• Dy, Dee, Lee

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 李 (Lǐ), spelled as such under the Mandarin Pinyin system. Also likely influenced by Hokkien 李 (Lí).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈli/ [ˈl̪i]

Proper noun

Li (Badlit spelling ᜎᜒ)

1. a Chinese Filipino surname from Mandarin

German

Etymology

Transcription of Chinese 李 (Lǐ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liː/

Proper noun

Li m or f (proper noun, surname, masculine genitive Lis or (with an article) Li, feminine genitive Li, plural Lis)

1. a surname from Chinese
   1. Wenchao Li (born 1957), philosopher, author, and editor
      • 2007 August 15th, Juliane Wedemeyer, “Zwischen zwei Welten”, in Tagesspiegel PNN, Homepage:

        Vergilbte Pappkästen reihen sich darin aneinander. In ihnen liegt die Arbeit von mehr als 100 Jahren Leibniz-Forschung – die Dokumente von Wenchao Lis Vorgängern, den Leitern der Potsdamer Leibniz-Edition: „Darauf kann Deutschland stolz sein“, sagt Li.

        Yellowed cardboard boxes are lined up next to each other. They contain the work of more than 100 years of Leibniz research – the documents of Wenchao Li’s predecessors, the directors of the Potsdam Leibniz Edition: “Germany can be proud of this,” says Li.

Declension

Declension of Li [masculine // feminine, surname]

	singular						plural
	masculine			feminine
	indef.	def.	noun	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	(ein)	(der)	Li	(eine)	(die)	Li	(die)	Lis
genitive	(eines)	(des)	Lis, Li1	(einer)	(der)	Li	(der)	Lis
dative	(einem)	(dem)	Li	(einer)	(der)	Li	(den)	Lis
accusative	(einen)	(den)	Li	(eine)	(die)	Li	(die)	Lis

¹With an article.

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• Lie

Etymology 1

From Hakka 李 (lǐ).

Proper noun

Li

1. a surname from Hakka

Etymology 2

From Hakka 呂／吕 (lǚ).

Proper noun

Li

1. a surname from Hakka

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• Dy, Dee, Lee

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 李 (Lǐ), spelled as such under the Mandarin Pinyin system and the Wade-Giles system. See also Hokkien 李 (Lí).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈli/ [ˈli]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: Li

Proper noun

Li (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒ)

1. a Chinese Filipino surname from Mandarin

Statistics

• According to data collected by Forebears in 2014, Li is the 9,014^th most common surname in the Philippines, occurring in 1,867 individuals.

See also

• Huang
• Wu
• Wang
• Liu

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• Ly

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [li˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [lɪj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [lɪj˧˧]
• Homophone: li

Proper noun

Li

1. a female given name from Chinese