丸 (wán): ball, pellet, pill
丸 (wán) is a Chinese character meaning “ball.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 九 (structural) and 丶 (structural). It ranks #2379 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 丸 a fist 九 holding a pebble 丶. Its radical form 丶 (dot) appears in many related characters such as 为 (wéi, as (in the capacity of)), 主 (zhǔ, owner), 举 (jǔ, to lift).
Definitions
- ball
- pellet
- pill
Etymology & Origin
pictographicA fist 九 holding a pebble 丶
Decomposition: ⿻九丶 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 丸 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 睾丸 | gāo wán | testicle |
| 药丸 | yào wán | pill |
| 肉丸 | ròu wán | meatball |
| 丸子 | wán zi | pills |
| 弹丸 | dàn wán | pellet |
| 定心丸 | dìng xīn wán | tranquilizer |
| 樟脑丸 | zhāng nǎo wán | camphor balls |
| 丸剂 | wán jì | pill |
| 弹丸之地 | dàn wán zhī dì | (idiom) tiny speck of land |
| 吃了定心丸 | chī le dìng xīn wán | to feel reassured |
| 章鱼小丸子 | zhāng yú xiǎo wán zi | takoyaki (octopus dumpling), a Japanese snack food |
| 速效救心丸 | sù xiào jiù xīn wán | fast-acting heart pills (a medication developed in China in 1982 to treat heart conditions including angina) |
| 宽心丸儿 | kuān xīn wán r | erhua variant of 寬心丸|宽心丸[kuan1 xin1 wan2] |
| 卫生丸 | wèi shēng wán | mothball |
| 炸丸子 | zhá wán zi | croquettes |
丸 appears in 31 compound words: 10 as the first character, 61 as the last, and 29 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 丸 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
老师教我们丸字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men wán zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "丸."
日本动画《多啦A梦》《樱桃小丸子》导演芝山努 因肺癌病逝终年84岁
rì běn dòng huà duō lā A mèng 樱 táo xiǎo wán zǐ dǎo yǎn zhī shān nǔ yīn fèi ái bìng shì zhōng nián 8 4 suì
Tsutomu Shibayama, director of the Japanese anime series *Doraemon* and *Chibi Maruko-chan*, has died of lung cancer at the age of 84.
老年人子宫下垂的治疗方法有哪些?八珍益母丸适合气血两虚者吗
lǎo nián rén zǐ gōng xià chuí de zhì liáo fāng fǎ yǒu nǎ xiē ? bā zhēn yì mǔ wán shì gě qì xiě liǎng xū zhě ma
What are the treatments for uterine ptosis in the elderly? Is Bazhen Yimu Pill suitable for those with qi and blood deficiency?
男科检查一般检查什么?外生殖器外观和睾丸触诊是基础吗
nán kē jiǎn chá yī bān jiǎn chá shén má ? wài shēng zhí qì wài guàn hé 睾 wán chù zhěn shì jī chǔ ma
What is commonly checked for andrology? Is external genital appearance and testicular palpation fundamental?
...)36年守护最后一个春运:老民警的“定心丸”故事
. . . ) 3 6 nián shǒu hù zuì hòu yī gè chūn yùn : lǎo mín jǐng de dìng xīn wán gù shì
...) 36 years of guarding the last Spring Festival: the "reassuring" story of the old policeman
...2030年晶片产量激增五成 台积电吞大力丸
. . . 2 0 3 0 nián jīng piàn chǎn liàng jī zēng wǔ chéng tái jī diàn tūn dà lì wán
... Chip production will surge by 50% in 2030 TSMC swallows Dali pills
章鱼小丸子真的很美味！
Zhāngyú xiǎo wánzi zhēn de hěn měiwèi!
Takoyaki is really quite delicious.
炸肉丸不是一种健康的零食。
Zhá ròuwán bù shì yīzhǒng jiànkāng de língshí.
A frikandel is not a healthy snack.
我想要五个肉丸。
Wǒ xiǎngyào wǔ gè ròuwán.
I want five meatballs.
新竹的贡丸和米粉非常有名，吸引不少游客品尝。
Xīnzhú de gòngwán hé mǐfěn fēicháng yǒumíng, xīyǐn bù shǎo yóukè pǐn cháng.
Hsinchu's meatballs and rice noodles are very famous, attracting many tourists to taste them.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 丸 (wán)?
Is 丸 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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