huán
noun HSK 3 #3,737

Meanings

  1. 1 ring; loop; hoop
  2. 2 to surround; link

Characters

Contains (jade radical) — a jade ring or bracelet.

Examples

Tā dài le yī gè jīn huán.
She wore a gold ring.
Yī huán yī huán de liánjiē.
Connected link by link.

Tips

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

Components

radical
jade (radical form)
Left jade radical — the indexing radical (it looks like 'king' but is actually the contracted form of 'jade', with the dot dropped in left-side position). Anchors the original meaning: was a flat circular jade ornament with a hole in the middle, the most prized type of bi-disc. Same radical in (play), (appear), (tinkling jade).
phonetic
not (here phonetic substitute)
Right component supplies the sound, substantially shifted from huán. The simplified swapped in as a stroke-count saver in place of the traditional 's complex phonetic (eye over garment , picturing a person admiring a jade ring at neck level). The original etymology was vivid; simplification trades that for ease of writing.

Stroke Order

huán