丸 (wán) · ball; pellet; pill

Measure Word

一粒药丸 lì

Meanings

1 ball; pellet; pill

Characters

丸

wán

ball; pellet; pill

Examples

HSK 4

鱼丸是很受欢迎的小吃。

Yúwán shì hěn shòu huānyíng de xiǎochī.

Fish balls are a very popular snack.

HSK 6

医生让他每天吃三粒药丸。

Yīshēng ràng tā měitiān chī sān lì yàowán.

The doctor told him to take three pills a day.

Tips

usage

丸 appears in many food names: 鱼丸 (yúwán, fish ball), 肉丸 (ròuwán, meatball), 贡丸 (gòngwán, pork ball). It also shows up in traditional Chinese medicine: 药丸 (yàowán, pill) and famous formulas like 六味地黄丸.

Components

semantic

九 jiǔ

nine; here a graphic body

Two strokes forming a curved body - identical in shape to 九 but originally a person bent into a ball. Visually splits cleanly into 九 plus a dot for learners. Indexed under Kangxi #3 丶 (diǎn, dot) by tradition via the small dot inside the curve; no separable etymological radical survives.

ideograph

丶 zhǔ

dot; here a rolling-marker

Single dot inside the curve - an abstract marker for something small and round resting in the bend. Together with the curved body, the two strokes picture a tiny ball cupped in a curled hand: pellet, pill, marble. Same dot-as-content trick as 玉 (jade-dot on 王) and 太 (dot intensifying 大).