旦 (dàn): (literary) dawn, daybreak, dan, female role in Chinese opera (traditionally played by specialized male actors)
旦 (dàn) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) dawn.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 日 (structural) and 一 (structural). It ranks #1292 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 旦 the sun 日 rising over the horizon 一. Its radical form 日 (sun) appears in many related characters such as 日 (rì, sun, day), 早 (zǎo, early, morning), 时 (shí, time, hour).
Definitions
- (literary) dawn
- daybreak
- dan, female role in Chinese opera (traditionally played by specialized male actors)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicThe sun 日 rising over the horizon 一
Decomposition: ⿱日一 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 旦 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 旦
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 撒旦 | sā dàn | Satan or Shaitan |
| 危在旦夕 | wēi zài dàn xī | in imminent peril (idiom) |
| 毁于一旦 | huǐ yú yī dàn | (idiom) ruined in a short time (esp. of sth that took a long time or great effort to achieve) |
| 约旦 | yuē dàn | Jordan (country) |
| 信誓旦旦 | xìn shì dàn dàn | to make a solemn vow |
| 通宵达旦 | tōng xiāo dá dàn | overnight until daybreak (idiom) |
| 约旦河 | yuē dàn hé | Jordan River (in southwestern Asia) |
| 花旦 | huā dàn | role of vivacious young female in Chinese opera |
| 复旦大学 | fù dàn dà xué | Fudan University, Shanghai |
| 大柴旦行政委员会 | dà chái dàn xíng zhèng wěi yuán huì | Da Qaidam county level subdivision of Haixi Mongol and Tibetan autonomous prefecture 海西蒙古族藏族自治州, Qinghai |
| 大柴旦行政区 | dà chái dàn xíng zhèng qū | Da Qaidam county level subdivision of Haixi Mongol and Tibetan autonomous prefecture 海西蒙古族藏族自治州[Hai3 xi1 Meng3 gu3 zu... |
| 正旦 | zhèng dàn | starring female role in a Chinese opera |
| 老旦 | lǎo dàn | old woman role in Chinese opera |
| 平旦 | píng dàn | (literary) daybreak |
| 文旦 | wén dàn | pomelo |
旦 appears in 40 compound words: 3 as the first character, 65 as the last, and 33 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 旦 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
Example Sentences
今天旦气很好，适合去公园散步。
jīn tiān dàn qì hěn hǎo , shì gě qù gōng yuán sàn bù .
The air is very fresh today, perfect for a stroll in the park.
约旦河西岸年内3.6万人流离失所 联合国:前...
yuē dàn hé xī àn nián nèi 3 . 6 wàn rén liú lí shī suǒ lián gě guó : qián . . .
36,000 Displaced in the West Bank This Year; UN: Previously...
...V”字形 荷姆兹海峡最窄不到40公里 一旦开火根本无从躲避
. . . V zì xíng hé mǔ zī hǎi xiá zuì zhǎi bù dào 4 0 gōng lǐ yī dàn kāi huǒ gēn běn wú cóng duǒ bì
...The Strait of Hormuz is less than 40 kilometers wide at its narrowest point; once hostilities break out, there is simply no place to hide.
美国突在约旦军事基地 部署大量战机
měi guó tū zài yuē dàn jūn shì jī dì bù shǔ dà liàng zhàn jī
The United States suddenly deployed a large number of fighter jets at Jordanian military bases
伊朗局势|伊媒:一旦开战特朗普家族在中东项目将成攻击目标
yī lǎng jú shì yī méi : yī dàn kāi zhàn tè lǎng pǔ jiā zú zài zhōng dōng xiàng mù jiāng chéng gōng jī mù biāo
Iranian media: Once the war starts, the Trump family's project in the Middle East will be the target
万马奔腾启新程!这支复旦“马”字牌拜年天团来送福啦..
wàn mǎ bēn téng qǐ xīn chéng ! zhè zhī fù dàn mǎ zì pái bài nián tiān tuán lái sòng fú lā . .
Ten thousand horses gallop to start a new journey! This Fudan "horse" brand New Year's greeting group is here to send blessings:
全体销售人员通宵达旦地工作了一周。
Quántǐ xiāoshòu rényuán tōngxiāo-dádàn de gōngzuò le yī zhōu.
The entire sales staff has worked around the clock for a week.
一旦养成了坏习惯，就很难改回来了。
Yīdàn yǎngchéng le huài xíguàn, jiù hěn nán gǎi huílai le.
A bad habit, once formed, is difficult to get rid of.
别射撒旦的背部。你可能会射不中。
Bié shè Sādàn de bèibù. nǐ kěnéng huì shè bù zhōng.
Don't shoot the devil in the back. You might miss.
很多日本人都会在元旦到神社参拜。
Hěn duō Rìběnrén dōu huì zài Yuándàn dào shénshè cānbài.
On New Year's Day many Japanese go to the shrine to worship.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 旦 (dàn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 旦 and 男?
How many strokes does 旦 have?
What is the radical of 旦?
What are the components of 旦?
What are common words containing 旦?
What characters sound the same as 旦 (dàn)?
Is 旦 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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