huán
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to encircle
  2. 2 to surround
  3. 3 circle (literary)

Examples

Qún shān huán bào, jǐngsè jué jiā.
The mountains encircle the place, and the scenery is superb.
Gǔrén yún: tiān huán dì fāng.
The ancients said: 'Heaven is round and earth is square.'

Tips

usage
has two readings: huán (encircle, surround — literary, mostly in classical or set phrases like ) and yuán (round, the older form of yuán). In modern Chinese the everyday 'round / circle' meaning is written , leaving mainly for classical citations and the cosmological cliché 地方 'heaven round, earth square'.
memory
The character is (enclosure radical) wrapped around — visually a thing 'encircled', which matches the meaning.

Stroke Order

huán