轮 (lún) · wheel

Meanings

1 wheel
2 round; turn
3 steamship
4 measure word for rounds of talks, contests or other recurring events

Characters

轮

lún

wheel; turn; round

Examples

HSK 3

这辆车有四个轮。

Zhè liàng chē yǒu sì ge lún.

This car has four wheels.

HSK 3

该轮到你了。

Gāi lúndào nǐ le.

It's your turn now.

HSK 4

第一轮面试已经结束了。

Dìyī lún miànshì yǐjīng jiéshù le.

The first round of interviews is already over.

Tips

usage

轮 is very versatile: as a noun it means 'wheel', as a measure word it means 'round' (一轮比赛, one round of competition), and as a verb 轮到 means 'it's someone's turn'.

grammar

轮到 is a very useful pattern: 轮到我了 (it's my turn), 轮到你了 (it's your turn). 轮流 means 'to take turns'.

Components

radical

车 chē

cart; vehicle

Left cart radical, simplified from 車 - a stylised overhead view of a chariot with axle and wheels. It supplies the meaning: 轮 is the wheel itself, the round component that makes a vehicle move. The radical anchors a transport family: 轨 (rails), 转 (turn/spin), 软 (soft, originally a wheel detail), 辆 (measure word for vehicles).

phonetic

仑 lún

in order; logical sequence

Right 仑 supplies the sound - exact match lún with no drift. 仑 itself originally pictured documents arranged in order under a cover (now greatly simplified); that orderliness lends a faint echo to 轮: a wheel turns in regular sequence, spoke by spoke. Same phonetic family: 论 (discuss), 伦 (ethics/order), 沦 (sink), 仑.