(luǎn): egg, ovum, spawn, (coll.) testicles, (old) penis

(luǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “egg.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural). It ranks #1980 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically pictographic, two ovaries containing eggs. Its radical form (seal) appears in many related characters such as (yìn, abbr. for 印度, India), (wèi, vassal state during the Zhou Dynasty (1066–221 BC), located in present-day Henan and Hebei Provinces), (wēi, danger).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. egg
  2. ovum
  3. spawn
  4. (coll.) testicles
  5. (old) penis

Etymology & Origin

pictographicTwo ovaries containing eggs

Components:structural

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

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
luǎn zǐovum
luǎn cháoovary
chǎn luǎnto lay eggs
pái luǎnto ovulate
é luǎn shípebble
shòu jīng luǎnfertilized ovum
shū luǎn guǎnFallopian tube
luǎn shícobble
luǎn pāoovarian follicle
chóng luǎninsect egg
fū luǎnto hatch
yǐ luǎn jī shílit. to strike a stone with egg (idiom)
rán bìng luǎn(Internet slang) ultimately useless
zǒng luǎn huáng guǎn(flatworm anatomy) common vitelline duct, formed by the union of vitelline ducts and entering the ootype
fù cháo zhī xià wú wán luǎnlit. when the nest is upset no egg is left intact (idiom)
43
Total compounds
47
As first character
35
As last character
19
As middle character

appears in 43 compound words: 47 as the first character, 35 as the last, and 19 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.

0.6586,348 co-occurrences
cháo
0.6159,438 co-occurrences
tāi
0.5104,746 co-occurrences
é
0.5031,482 co-occurrences
náng
0.5022,640 co-occurrences
tuǒ
0.499996 co-occurrences
xíng
0.49824,282 co-occurrences
yuán
0.4954,260 co-occurrences
chéng
0.4655,082 co-occurrences
0.4612,214 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (5)

luǎnmǔxìbāoHSK 7+

oocyte

noun
shì wēi lěi luǎnHSK 7+

lit. the matter has become a pile of eggs (idiom); fig. at a critical juncture

phrase
wēirúlěiluǎnHSK 7+

extremely dangerous; extremely precarious

phrase
yǐluǎnjíshíHSK 7+

to overestimate one's capabilities or to attack a stronger opponent as the weaker side which is sure to end in failure

phrase

Showing 4 of 5 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

老师教我们字的发音和笔顺。

lǎo shī jiào wǒ men luǎn zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .

The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "卵."

99 健康网Feb 2026

...症最好的治疗办法有哪些?介入栓塞术会影响巢功能吗

. . . zhèng zuì hǎo de zhì liáo bàn fǎ yǒu nǎ xiē ? jiè rù shuān sāi shù huì yǐng xiǎng luǎn cháo gōng néng ma

... What are the best treatments for this condition? Does interventional embolization affect ovarian function?

東森新聞Feb 2026

鲑鱼近年翻涨飙高! 飞鱼逆势成新宠

鲑 yú luǎn jìn nián fān zhǎng biāo gāo ! fēi yú luǎn nì shì chéng xīn chǒng

Salmon roe has soared in recent years! Flying fish eggs bucked the trend and became a new favorite

99 健康网Feb 2026

...什么时候吃有效?停药7天期间会不会意外排怀孕

. . . shén má shí hòu chī yǒu xiào ? tíng yào 7 tiān qī jiān huì bù huì yì wài pái luǎn huái yùn

... When is it effective to eat? Will there be unexpected ovulation and pregnancy during the 7-day stopping of the drug?

99 健康网Feb 2026

避孕药吃多了会导致不孕吗?停药后巢功能能完全恢复吗

bì yùn yào chī duō le huì dǎo zhì bù yùn ma ? tíng yào hòu luǎn cháo gōng néng néng wán quán huī fù ma

Can taking too many birth control pills cause infertility? Can ovarian function be fully restored after stopping the drug?

三立新聞網Feb 2026

田中千绘恋情曾掀波 冻细节首次曝光

tián zhōng qiān huì liàn qíng céng xiān bō dòng luǎn xì jié shǒu cì pù guāng

Chie Tanaka's love affair once made waves, and the details of egg freezing were exposed for the first time

Tatoeba

她捡起了一块鹅石。

Tā jiǎn qǐ le yīkuài éluǎnshí.

She stooped to pick up a pebble.

Tatoeba

鲑鱼在淡水中产

Guīyú zài dànshuǐ zhōng chǎnluǎn.

Salmon lay their eggs in fresh water.

Character Family

Radical Family — Characters sharing the seal radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced luǎn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 卵 (luǎn) mean in Chinese?
卵 (luǎn) primarily means "egg." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1980 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 卵 have?
卵 is written with 7 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 卵?
The radical associated with 卵 is 卩 (seal). This radical appears in many characters related to seal.
What are the components of 卵?
卵 is composed of: 卩 (structural). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 卵?
Common words with 卵 include: 卵子 (luǎn zǐ, "ovum"); 卵巢 (luǎn cháo, "ovary"); 产卵 (chǎn luǎn, "to lay eggs"); 排卵 (pái luǎn, "to ovulate"); 鹅卵石 (é luǎn shí, "pebble"). There are over 43 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 卵 (luǎn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation luǎn: 孪 (twins), 乱 (in confusion or disorder). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 卵 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 卵 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.