圈 (quān): circle, ring, loop, (fig.) social circle, niche group, community, fandom, classifier for loops, orbits, laps, to surround, to encircle, to circle (sth), to mark with a circle, to confine, to lock up, to pen in

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

Etymologically derived, 圈 enclosure. Its radical form 囗 (enclosure) appears in many related characters such as 四 (sì, four), 回 (huí, to circle), 国 (guó, country).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. circle
  2. ring
  3. loop
  4. (fig.) social circle
  5. niche group
  6. community
  7. fandom
  8. classifier for loops, orbits, laps
  9. to surround
  10. to encircle
  11. to circle (sth)
  12. to mark with a circle
  13. to confine
  14. to lock up
  15. to pen in

Etymology & Origin

圈

pictophoneticenclosure

Decomposition: ⿴囗卷 (layout: full-surround)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
圈套nounquān tàotrap
圈子nounquān zicircle
项圈nounxiàng quānnecklace
转圈verbzhuàn quānto rotate
兜圈子verbdōu quān zito encircle
圆圈nounyuán quāncircle
圈圈nounquān quanto draw a circle
眼圈nounyǎn quānrim of the eye
线圈nounxiàn quāncoil (of wire)
演艺圈nounyǎn yì quānshow business
绕圈子rào quān zito go around in circles
猪圈nounzhū juàn(lit. and fig.) pigsty
花圈nounhuā quānwreath
怪圈nounguài quānvicious circle
北极圈proper-nounběi jí quānArctic Circle
100
Total compounds
15
As first character
72
As last character
13
As middle character

圈 appears in 100 compound words: 15 as the first character, 72 as the last, and 13 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 圈 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

概gài
0.50227 co-occurrences
甜tián
0.4942,722 co-occurrences
宅zhái
0.45023 co-occurrences
煮zhǔ
0.44213 co-occurrences
第dì
0.41931,794 co-occurrences
套tào
0.4092,474 co-occurrences
娱yú
0.407844 co-occurrences
圆yuán
0.4051,456 co-occurrences
燕yàn
0.40112 co-occurrences
念niàn
0.39527 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

贵圈真乱guìquān zhēn luànHSK 6+

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

phrase
可圈可点kěquānkědiǎnHSK 6+

praiseworthy; remarkable; commendable; doubtful; needing careful consideration

phrase
罗圈儿揖luó quān r yīHSK 7+

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

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个圈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圈!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 中国年味儿成功圈粉全球游客

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” 传统庙会圈粉年轻人

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

【财圈识真假】“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 圈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圈看。

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

Sami looked straight at the toilet seat.

Tatoeba

雅妮像中了圈套的狼一样惊慌

Yǎ nī xiàng zhōng le quāntào de láng yīyàng jīnghuāng

Yanni panicked like a wolf in a snare.

Tatoeba

圈养导致大猩猩生病。

Juànyǎng dǎozhì dàxīngxing shēngbìng.

Captivity makes gorillas sick.

Tatoeba

你可以骑上我的摩托车去遛一圈。

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

You can have a ride on my motorcycle.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 囗 (enclosure) component

囗 Radical Family — Characters sharing the enclosure radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced quān

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 圈 (quān) mean in Chinese?
圈 (quān) primarily means "circle." 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 (quān) 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 (quān)?
Several characters share the pronunciation quān: 全 (all), 权 (authority), 劝 (to advise), 券 (bond (esp. document split in two, with each party holding one half)), and 4 more. 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 圈 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken 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.