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丸子 (wán zi) — (noun) ball-shaped food (meatball, fishball, vegetable ball, etc.); (noun) pill; bolus (solid oral medicine)

Definition

丸子 is the everyday word for a ball-shaped food (meatball, fishball, etc.), and also used for a pill/bolus. Its shorter form 丸 is the classifier and a more formal written word for 'pill'.

noun
ball-shaped food (meatball, fishball, vegetable ball, etc.)pillbolus (solid oral medicine)
Measure word · 颗

Examples

  • 丸子。
    Jīn tiān zhōng wǔ wǒ men hē wán zi tāng ba.
    Let's have meatball soup for lunch today.
  • 丸子，。
    Yī shēng ràng wǒ měi tiān chī sān cì wán zi, yí cì liǎng lì.
    The doctor told me to take the pills three times a day, two pills each time.
  • 丸子。
    Nǎi nai zuò de sù wán zi fēi cháng hǎo chī.
    The vegetarian balls Grandma makes are delicious.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

丸wánpill
子zǐnoun-forming element

丸 names the round shape, and 子 gives the everyday name for such a thing.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

丸 is a later form split off from 夗. One explanation says its shape came from turning over a character meaning to tilt, giving the sense of something round.

Open 丸 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Food (General)

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