圈 (quān): circle; ring; loop

Meanings

1 circle; ring; loop
2 to encircle; to mark with a circle
3 group; circle (of people)

Examples

他绕着操场跑了三圈。

Tā rào zhe cāochǎng pǎo le sān quān.

He ran three laps around the track.

请把正确答案圈出来。

Qǐng bǎ zhèngquè dá'àn quān chūlái.

Please circle the correct answer.

她在娱乐圈很有名。

Tā zài yúlèquān hěn yǒumíng.

She is very famous in the entertainment world.

Tips

usage

As a measure word 圈 counts laps or loops: 跑两圈 (run two laps). The 'social circle' sense drives modern slang — 娱乐圈 (showbiz), 饭圈 (fandom), 出圈 (go viral beyond your niche).

register

圈 is polyphonic. This entry covers the dominant quān reading (circle, loop, group). The juàn reading is a separate entry for animal pens (猪圈, 羊圈).

Components

radical

囗 wéi

enclosure

Outer enclosure radical (wéi) — the indexing radical, wrapping the phonetic on top, left, and bottom. The square frame visually depicts a closed boundary, supplying the 'ring / enclosed area' meaning. Same wrapping pattern in 国 (country), 园 (garden), 围 (surround).

phonetic

卷 juǎn

scroll; roll

Inner 卷 supplies the sound — juǎn drifted to quān through palatal shift, but both trace to the same Old Chinese velar series. The 'roll / curl' meaning also resonates: a circle is something curled into a closed loop. Same phonetic in 倦 (tired).