捐 (juān): to donate; to contribute

Meanings

1 to donate; to contribute
2 to give (to charity)

Characters

捐

juān

to donate; to contribute

Examples

他捐了一百万给学校。

Tā juān le yībǎiwàn gěi xuéxiào.

He donated one million to the school.

很多人捐了血。

Hěnduō rén juān le xuè.

Many people donated blood.

她每年都捐钱给慈善机构。

Tā měinián dōu juān qián gěi císhàn jīgòu.

She donates money to charity every year.

请大家踊跃捐款。

Qǐng dàjiā yǒngyuè juānkuǎn.

Everyone please donate generously.

Tips

usage

Common compounds: 捐款 (donate money), 捐助 (donate/aid), 捐赠 (donate as a gift), 捐血/献血 (donate blood). 募捐 (mù juān) = to fundraise/solicit donations.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side radical form of 手)

Left 扌 is the hand radical, side-form of 手. Marks 捐 as a manual action — the literal sense was 'to cast off', the gesture of a hand letting something go. From release came the modern 'donate' sense and 'tax' (forced release). Same hand-action family: 推 push, 拉 pull, 拿 take, 抛 toss.

phonetic

肙 yuān

small worm (here phonetic)

Right 肙 supplies the sound — yuān shifting to juān through Old Chinese palatalization. The same phonetic spawns 涓 juān trickle, 鹃 juān cuckoo, 娟 juān graceful — the whole juān-rhyme cluster. Pure phonetic role; 肙's original 'tiny worm' meaning contributes nothing to 'donate / cast off'.