卵 (luǎn): egg; ovum

Meanings

1 egg; ovum
2 spawn; roe

Characters

卵

luǎn

egg; ovum

Examples

HSK 7-9

青蛙在水中产卵。

Qīngwā zài shuǐzhōng chǎnluǎn.

Frogs lay eggs in the water.

HSK 7-9

卵细胞和精子结合形成胚胎。

Luǎnxìbāo hé jīngzǐ jiéhé xíngchéng pēitāi.

The egg cell and sperm combine to form an embryo.

Tips

usage

卵 is the scientific/biological term for egg - 产卵 (chǎnluǎn, 'to lay eggs') is for animals, 卵巢 (luǎncháo, 'ovary') is medical. For everyday food eggs, use 蛋 (dàn): 鸡蛋 (jīdàn, 'chicken egg'), not 鸡卵. In some dialects, 卵 is slang for testicles - be aware of this in informal contexts.

Components

radical

卩 jié

kneeling person; seal

The right 卩 is the indexing Kangxi radical. The egg-pictograph was reanalyzed so that its right half resembled 卩, placing 卵 in the seal-radical lookup family despite having no original connection to kneeling or sealing imagery.

pictograph

卵 luǎn

egg; ovum; testicles

Originally depicted two hanging fish-roe sacs or paired eggs, with internal dots marking the yolks. The left side plus the inner dot preserve the original egg-sac imagery; it is too fused with the right 卩 frame to split into independent named pieces.