环 (huán) · ring; loop; hoop

Meanings

1 ring; loop; hoop
2 to surround; link
3 measure word for points scored in shooting or archery

Characters

环

huán

ring; loop; to surround

Contains 王 (jade radical) - a jade ring or bracelet.

Examples

HSK 4

她戴了一个金环。

Tā dài le yī gè jīn huán.

She wore a gold ring.

HSK 5

一环一环地连接。

Yī huán yī huán de liánjiē.

Connected link by link.

HSK 6

她最后一枪打了十环。

Tā zuìhòu yì qiāng dǎ le shí huán.

Her last shot scored a ten.

Tips

usage

环 appears in many important compounds: 环境 (environment), 环保 (eco-friendly), 循环 (cycle/circulation), 环球 (global/around the world).

Components

radical

王 yù

jade (radical form)

Left jade radical - the indexing radical (it looks like 王 'king' but is actually the contracted form of 玉 'jade', with the dot dropped in left-side position). Anchors the original meaning: 环 was a flat circular jade ornament with a hole in the middle, the most prized type of bi-disc. Same radical in 玩 (play), 现 (appear), 玲 (tinkling jade).

phonetic

不 bù

not (here phonetic substitute)

Right component supplies the sound, substantially shifted from huán. The simplified 环 swapped in 不 as a stroke-count saver in place of the traditional 環's complex 睘 phonetic (eye 目 over garment 衣, picturing a person admiring a jade ring at neck level). The original etymology was vivid; simplification trades that for ease of writing.