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眷

juàn
noun #30,076

Meanings

  1. 1 family members (esp. wife and children)
  2. 2 dependents
  3. 3 to regard with affection

Examples

HSK 4
家眷都在老家等着他回来。
Jiā juàn dōu zài lǎojiā děng zhe tā huílai.
His family members were all waiting for him to return home.
HSK 7-9
他携眷前往台湾定居。
Tā xié juàn qiánwǎng Táiwān dìngjū.
He moved to Taiwan with his family.

Tips

usage
眷 is a literary/formal term. In everyday speech, 家人 or 家属 are more common. 眷属 and 家眷 are set phrases meaning one's wife and children or family.

Components

radical
目 mù
eye
Bottom eye radical - the indexing radical, a pictograph of an upright eye with the pupil shown as the horizontal lines inside. Anchors 眷 in the family of seeing/gaze chars: 看 look, 眼 eye, 睛 pupil, 瞧 gaze, 盼 look forward. Pairs with the rolling-hands above to picture an eye lingeringly turning back - the image behind "attachment, fondness, family one cares for."
phonetic
龹 juàn
rice-rolling hands (decorative top)
Top component - historically depicting two hands working rice grains, a fused remnant of the older graph that also tops 卷 (roll/scroll), 拳 (fist), 券 (ticket). Supplies the sound: juàn exactly. Across this family the cluster of hand-shaped strokes hints at gripping or rolling, but in 眷 it functions almost purely as a phonetic frame above the eye below.

Stroke Order

眷 juàn