yuàn
verb

Meanings

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

Examples

Búyào duì tā xīncún yuànhèn.
Don't hold a grudge against him.

Tips

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

Components

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

Stroke Order

yuàn