(juān): to confine, to lock up, to pen in

(juān) is a Chinese character meaning “to confine.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #1358 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, enclosure. Its radical form (enclosure) appears in many related characters such as (, four), (huí, to circle), (guó, country).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to confine
  2. to lock up
  3. to pen in

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticenclosure

Decomposition: ⿴囗卷 (layout: full-surround)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
quān tàotrap
quān zicircle
xiàng quānnecklace
zhuàn quānto rotate
dōu quān zito encircle
yuán quāncircle
quān quanto draw a circle
yǎn quānrim of the eye
线xiàn quānsolenoid (electrical engineering)
yǎn yì quānshow business
rào quān zito go around in circles
zhū juànpigsty (lit. and fig.)
huā quānwreath
guài quānvicious circle
běi jí quānArctic Circle
100
Total compounds
17
As first character
68
As last character
15
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 17 as the first character, 68 as the last, and 15 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

zhái
0.58011 co-occurrences
tián
0.4988,171 co-occurrences
0.42595,382 co-occurrences
tào
0.4157,422 co-occurrences
0.4132,532 co-occurrences
yuán
0.4114,368 co-occurrences
shǒu
0.39630,282 co-occurrences
chí
0.3891,098 co-occurrences
shāng
0.38718,168 co-occurrences
kuài
0.38110,212 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

guìquān zhēn luànHSK 6+

The lifestyle of people in your social circle is something I cannot easily comprehend.

phrase
kěquānkědiǎnHSK 6+

praiseworthy; remarkable; commendable; doubtful; needing careful consideration

phrase
luó quān r yīHSK 7+

to bow around with hands joined (to people on all sides)

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个字的意思与它的部首有关。

zhè gě juān zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .

The meaning of the character "圈" is related to its radical.

InvestingFeb 2026

港股概念追踪 | 春晚人形机器人爆火出!机构预计今年年产业链迎来规模放量阶段(...

gǎng gǔ gài niàn zhuī zōng chūn wǎn rén xíng jī qì rén bào huǒ chū juān ! jī gòu yù jì jīn nián nián chǎn yè liàn yíng lái guī mó fàng liàng jiē duàn ( . . .

Hong Kong Stock Concept Tracking | The humanoid robot of the Spring Festival Gala exploded out of the circle! Institutions expect that this year's industrial chain will usher in a stage of large-scale volume (...)

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

外国游客扎堆北京过年 中国年味儿成功粉全球游客

wài guó yóu kè zhā duī běi jīng guò nián zhōng guó nián wèi ér chéng gōng juān fěn quán qiú yóu kè

Foreign tourists gather in Beijing for the New Year, and the Chinese New Year flavor has successfully attracted tourists from all over the world

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

“老传统+新玩法+新科技” 传统庙会粉年轻人

lǎo chuán tǒng xīn wán fǎ xīn kē jì chuán tǒng miào huì juān fěn nián qīng rén

"Old tradition + new gameplay + new technology" Traditional temple fairs attract young people

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

【财识真假】“水记”赤马红羊年运数预测

cái juān shí zhēn jiǎ shuǐ jì chì mǎ hóng yáng nián yùn shǔ yù cè

【Financial Circle Knows True and False】"Water Record" Red Horse Red Sheep Annual Fortune Prediction

Hk01.comFeb 2026

韩马利中山大宅跟北方煮锅贴过年 中老公杜燕歌系清朝皇族后裔

hán mǎ lì zhōng shān dà zhái gēn běi fāng zhǔ guō tiē guò nián juān zhōng lǎo gōng dù yān gē xì qīng cháo huáng zú hòu yì

Han Mali's Zhongshan mansion cooks potstickers in the north for the New Year, and her husband Du Yange in the circle is a descendant of the Qing Dynasty royal family

Tatoeba

萨米直直地盯着马桶座看。

Sà mǐ zhí zhí de dīng zhe mǎtǒng zuò quān kàn.

Sami looked straight at the toilet seat.

Tatoeba

雅妮像中了套的狼一样惊慌

Yǎ nī xiàng zhōng le quāntào de láng yīyàng jīnghuāng

Yanni panicked like a wolf in a snare.

Tatoeba

养导致大猩猩生病。

Juànyǎng dǎozhì dàxīngxing shēngbìng.

Captivity makes gorillas sick.

Tatoeba

你可以骑上我的摩托车去遛一

Nǐ kěyǐ qí shàng wǒ de mótuōchē qù liù yī quān.

You can have a ride on my motorcycle.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced juān

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 圈 (juān) mean in Chinese?
圈 (juān) primarily means "to confine." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1358 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 圈 and 下?
圈 (juān) and 下 (xià) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 圈 (up) vs 下 (down).
How many strokes does 圈 have?
圈 is written with 11 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 圈?
The radical associated with 圈 is 囗 (enclosure). This radical appears in many characters related to enclosure.
What are the components of 圈?
圈 is composed of: 囗 (semantic), 卷 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿴囗卷 with a full-surround layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 圈?
Common words with 圈 include: 圈套 (quān tào, "trap"); 圈子 (quān zi, "circle"); 项圈 (xiàng quān, "necklace"); 转圈 (zhuàn quān, "to rotate"); 兜圈子 (dōu quān zi, "to encircle"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 圈 (juān)?
Several characters share the pronunciation juān: 捐 (to relinquish), 卷 (to roll up), 倦 (tired). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 圈 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 圈 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.