旋 (xuán): to revolve; to rotate

Meanings

1 to revolve; to rotate
2 to circle; to wheel around
3 a loop; a coil

Characters

旋

xuán

to revolve; to circle

Examples

地球绕着太阳旋转。

Dìqiú rào zhe tàiyang xuánzhuǎn.

The Earth revolves around the Sun.

飞机在空中盘旋了一圈。

Fēijī zài kōngzhōng pánxuán le yī quān.

The plane circled once in the air.

这段旋律优美又好记。

Zhè duàn xuánlǜ yōuměi yòu hǎojì.

This melody is beautiful and easy to remember.

Tips

usage

xuán is the common reading for turning and circling: 旋转 (to rotate), 盘旋 (to spiral), 螺旋 (helix), 旋律 (melody). A separate xuàn reading covers a fast, forceful spin — most visibly in 旋风 (whirlwind) and the lathe sense.

Components

radical

方 fāng

banner-pole residue (here radical)

Left 方 here is not 'direction' but the residue of a banner waving on its pole, the same element seen in 旗, 族 and 旅. The flag is the indexing element; it sets up the scene of soldiers wheeling around a battle standard that gave 旋 its 'revolve, turn back' sense.

semantic

疋 pǐ

foot (fused with the banner tail)

The right side is a seven-stroke fusion: the top two strokes are the trailing edge of the banner (the cloth seen atop 旗), the bottom five are 疋, a foot. Standalone 疋 has five strokes; here it absorbs the two flag-tail strokes above. The image is feet stepping around a banner — circling the standard, the source of 'rotate, return.'