圆 (yuán) — (noun) circle; (adjective) round, circular, spherical; (noun) unit of Chinese currency (yuan, formal)
Definition
Means 'round' in shape — a circle, a ball, anything curved with no corners. Also the name of the Chinese currency (元). 团 as a classifier is for soft lump-shaped things; 圆 itself is not used that way.
noun
circleunit of Chinese currency (yuan, formal)
adjective
roundcircularspherical
Measure word · 个
Easily confused
- 国guólook-alikecountry, nation, state
- 员yuánsound-alike(suffix) person; employee; member
- 图túlook-alike(noun) picture, drawing, chart, map
- 元yuánsound-alike(classifier) yuan, the basic unit of Chinese currency
- 原yuánsound-alikeoriginal, former
- 园yuánsound-alikegarden; park; (in compounds) a place for a specific purpose (e.g., kindergarten, botanical garden)
Examples
- 圆。Qǐng huà yí gè yuán.Please draw a circle.
- 圆。Zhè zhāng zhuō zi shì yuán de.This table is round.
- 圆。Wǒ fù le shí yuán qián.I paid ten yuan.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
This origin belongs to the traditional form 圓; 圆 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéi
Sound part声符shēngfú
員
員yuán圓yuán
Same sound today
This is about the traditional form 圓, not the simplified 圆. In 圓, 囗 surrounds 員, and the inner part of 員 is an old circle picture.
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