兰 (lán): abbr. for Lanzhou 蘭州|兰州, Gansu, orchid (蘭花|兰花 Cymbidium goeringii), fragrant thoroughwort (蘭草|兰草 Eupatorium fortunei)
兰 (lán) is a Chinese character meaning “abbr. for lanzhou 蘭州|兰州, gansu.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丷 (structural) and 三 (structural). It ranks #642 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 兰 an orchid in bloom. Its radical form 八 (eight) appears in many related characters such as 八 (bā, eight), 六 (liù, six), 关 (guān, mountain pass).
Definitions
- abbr. for Lanzhou 蘭州|兰州, Gansu
- orchid (蘭花|兰花 Cymbidium goeringii)
- fragrant thoroughwort (蘭草|兰草 Eupatorium fortunei)
Etymology & Origin
pictographicAn orchid in bloom
Decomposition: ⿱丷三 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 兰 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 兰
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 弗兰克 | fú lán kè | Frank (name) |
| 爱尔兰 | ài ěr lán | Ireland |
| 荷兰 | hé lán | Holland |
| 波兰 | bō lán | Poland |
| 格兰特 | gé lán tè | Grant (name) |
| 白兰地 | bái lán dì | (loanword) brandy |
| 法兰克 | fǎ lán kè | the Franks (Germanic people who arrived in Europe from 600 AD and took over France) |
| 米兰 | mǐ lán | Milano |
| 奥克兰 | ào kè lán | Auckland (New Zealand city) |
| 芬兰 | fēn lán | Finland |
| 兰西 | lán xī | see 蘭西縣|兰西县[Lan2 xi1 Xian4] |
| 兰斯 | lán sī | Reims (city in France) |
| 奥兰多 | ào lán duō | Orlando |
| 法兰西 | fǎ lán xī | France |
| 木兰 | mù lán | lily magnolia (Magnolia liliflora) |
兰 appears in 100 compound words: 28 as the first character, 49 as the last, and 23 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 兰 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (16)
premature death of a budding talent; those whom the Gods love die young
Ulanqab (a prefecture-level city of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
Ulanhot (a county-level city of Hinggan, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
lit. orchids and jade trees (idiom); fig. a child with splendid future prospects
premature death of a budding talent; those whom the Gods love die young
Ulanhot (a county-level city of Hinggan, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
lit. orchids and jade trees (idiom); fig. a child with splendid future prospects
Showing 12 of 16 idioms containing 兰.
Example Sentences
兰字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
lán zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "兰" has different usages in different contexts.
微视频|冀望米兰·一封家书——致河北运动员何凯乐
wēi shì pín 冀 wàng mǐ lán yī fēng jiā shū — — zhì hé běi yùn dòng yuán hé kǎi lè
Micro video|Hope Milan A letter from home - to Hebei athlete He Kaile
米兰冬奥|有爱人也有惺惺相惜的对手,王心迪与...
mǐ lán dōng ào yǒu ài rén yě yǒu 惺 惺 xiāng xī de duì shǒu , wáng xīn dí yǔ . . .
Milan Winter Olympics|There are lovers and opponents who cherish each other, Wang Xindi and...
冬奥会|速滑综合:荷兰老将德容四战奥运首夺金
dōng ào huì sù huá zèng gě : hé lán lǎo jiāng dé róng sì zhàn ào yùn shǒu duó jīn
Winter Olympics|Speed skating comprehensive: Dutch veteran De Jong won his first gold medal in four Olympic games
在米兰,冰雪赛场藏着中国式浪漫
zài mǐ lán , bīng xuě sài chǎng zàng zhe zhōng guó shì làng màn
In Milan, the ice and snow arena hides Chinese romance
俄方称欧洲在乌克兰问题上更倾向于延续冲突
é fāng chèn ōu zhōu zài wū kè lán wèn tí shàng gēng qīng xiàng yú yán xù chōng tū
Russia said that Europe is more inclined to continue the conflict on the Ukraine issue
俄语和乌克兰语像吗？
éyǔ hé Wūkèlán yǔ xiàng ma?
Are Russian and Ukrainian similar?
爱尔兰和英格兰被海分割。
ài'ěrlán hé Yīnggélán bèi hǎi fēngē.
A sea separates Ireland and England.
荷兰语与德语关系密切。
Hélányǔ yǔ Déyǔ guānxi mìqiè.
Dutch is closely related to German.
乌克兰的首都是基辅。
Wūkèlán de shǒudū shì Jīfǔ.
The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 兰 (lán) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 兰 (lán)?
Is 兰 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 兰 with real-time feedback
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