尼(ní) - Buddhist nun; syllable used in transliterated names in Mandarin

尼 (ní) has one real meaning left and one very large job. The meaning is Buddhist nun, from 比丘尼, the transcription of the Sanskrit word, which everyday Chinese shortens to 尼姑.

The job is phonetic. 尼 is one of the standard syllables used to spell foreign sounds, so it shows up in place names such as 尼泊尔 (Nepal), 尼罗河 (the Nile) and 印度尼西亚 (Indonesia), in loanwords such as 尼龙 (nylon), and inside a great many transcribed personal names.

The trap is hunting for meaning where there is none. When you meet 尼 inside a long unfamiliar word, the first thing to check is whether the whole word is a foreign name being sounded out. If it is, stop translating the characters and read them aloud instead.