绕 (rào): to wind, to coil (thread), to rotate around
绕 (rào) is a Chinese character meaning “to wind.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 纟 (semantic) and 尧 (phonetic). It ranks #1476 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 绕 thread. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 系 (xì, to connect), 累 (lěi, to accumulate), 绍 (shào, to continue).
Definitions
- to wind
- to coil (thread)
- to rotate around
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 绕 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 绕
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 绕道 | rào dào | to go by a roundabout route |
| 环绕 | huán rào | to surround |
| 萦绕 | yíng rào | to linger on |
| 缠绕 | chán rào | twisting |
| 绕过 | rào guò | to detour |
| 绕圈子 | rào quān zi | to go around in circles |
| 绕行 | rào xíng | to take a circular (or circuitous) route |
| 绕弯子 | rào wān zi | lit. to go on a long detour |
| 缭绕 | liáo rào | (of smoke from a chimney) to curl upward |
| 绕口令 | rào kǒu lìng | tongue-twister |
| 盘绕 | pán rào | to coil (around sth) |
| 旋绕 | xuán rào | to curl up |
| 回绕 | huí rào | winding |
| 绕弯儿 | rào wān r | to go for a walk around |
| 绕嘴 | rào zuǐ | hard to get one's mouth around |
绕 appears in 39 compound words: 64 as the first character, 26 as the last, and 10 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 绕 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
reverberates around the rafters (idiom); fig. sonorous and resounding (esp. of singing voice)
reverberates around the rafters (idiom); fig. sonorous and resounding (esp. of singing voice)
Example Sentences
了解绕字的来源，有助于理解中国文化。
le xiè rào zì de lái yuán , yǒu zhù yú lǐ xiè zhōng guó wén huā .
Understanding the origin of the character "绕" (to circle) helps to comprehend Chinese culture.
开战后 首艘中国油轮绕道红海载油回国
kāi zhàn hòu shǒu sōu zhōng guó yóu lún rào dào hóng hǎi zài yóu huí guó
After the outbreak of hostilities, the first Chinese oil tanker took a detour through the Red Sea to transport oil back to China
美伊开战 两大航商绕道好望角
měi yī kāi zhàn liǎng dà háng shāng rào dào hǎo wàng jiǎo
The United States and Iran went to war, and the two major shipping companies took a detour to the Cape of Good Hope
每日星座运势/巨蟹今日桃花绕左右 选择机会颇多
měi rì xīng zuò yùn shì jù xiè jīn rì táo huā rào zuǒ yòu xuǎn zé jī huì pō duō
Daily horoscope/Cancer today peach blossoms around There are many opportunities to choose
台中公车驶入校园+1 “282绕”停靠雾峰国中
tái zhōng gōng chē shǐ rù jiào yuán 1 2 8 2 rào tíng kào wù fēng guó zhōng
Taichung bus drove into the campus +1 "282 rounds" and stopped at Wufeng Junior High School
氦气流动异常 阿提米丝2号绕月再推迟
氦 qì liú dòng yì cháng ā tí mǐ sī 2 hào rào yuè zài tuī chí
Helium flow is abnormal Artemis 2 orbit the moon and is postponed again
他垂下手臂环绕住她然后亲吻。
Tā chuíxià shǒubì huánrào zhù tā ránhòu qīnwěn.
He slid his arms around her and kissed her.
你最喜欢哪一个绕口令？
Nǐ zuì xǐhuan nǎyīge ràokǒulìng?
What's your favorite tongue twister?
游艇绕浮标航行。
Yóutǐng rào fúbiāo hángxíng.
The yacht sailed around a buoy.
现代交通使我们能在几天内环绕地球。
Xiàndài jiāotōng shǐ wǒmen néng zài jǐ tiān nèi huánrào dìqiú.
Modern travel enables us to go around the world in a few days.
Character Family
纟 Radical Family — Characters sharing the silk radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 绕 (rào) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 绕 and 烧?
How many strokes does 绕 have?
What is the radical of 绕?
What are the components of 绕?
What are common words containing 绕?
What characters sound the same as 绕 (rào)?
Is 绕 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 绕 with real-time feedback
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