夗

yuàn
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to turn over while lying down; to lie curled up (archaic)

Examples

HSK 7-9
Búyào duì tā xīncún yuànhèn.
Don't hold a grudge against him.

Tips

history
夗 ('to turn over in sleep / lie curled') is archaic and not used independently in modern Chinese. It survives as the phonetic in 怨 (resentment), 宛 (winding / as if), 婉 (graceful / tactful), 碗 (bowl), and 苑 (a garden / park).
register
Archaic. One older tradition reads 夗 with a different tone in the 'curled / winding' sense; both feed its large phonetic family.

Components

semantic
夕 xī
evening; night
The 'evening' element sets the scene at night, when one tosses and turns in sleep - the core image of 夗.
semantic
卩 jié
a kneeling / curled figure
The 'bent figure' element pictures a body curled up on its side, completing the lying-down picture of 夗.

Stroke Order

夗 yuàn