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

HSK 5

地球绕着太阳旋转。

Dìqiú rào zhe tàiyang xuánzhuǎn.

The Earth revolves around the Sun.

HSK 5

飞机在空中盘旋了一圈。

Fēijī zài kōngzhōng pánxuán le yī quān.

The plane circled once in the air.

HSK 6

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

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.'