wān
adjective

Meanings

  1. 1 winding
  2. 2 wriggling (of snakes)

Examples

Shānlù wānyán xiàng xià yánshēn.
A mountain path winds its way down.
Tiānhuābǎn shàng yǒu yì tiáo wānyán de lièfèng.
A long crack snakes across the ceiling.

Tips

usage
Almost always bound inside 蜿蜒 (winding, snaking). You will rarely see standing on its own — treat it as half of that two-character word, used for rivers, roads, and walls that twist along.

Components

radical
chóng
insect; worm
Left-side insect radical . It frames the character as something snake- or worm-like, fitting the wriggling sense that carries inside 蜿蜒.
phonetic
wǎn
winding; as if
Right side supplies the sound (the tone shifts from wǎn to wān) and a faint hint of meaning, since itself can mean 'winding'. Same phonetic in and .

Stroke Order

wān