盘 (pán) - Plate, dish, tray & to coil, to wind

盘Tone 2

pán ｜ 11 strokes ｜ radical:

柠七

盘 · pán

Plate, dish, tray;

to coil, to wind;

to check, to investigate;

to transfer, to make over;

a measure word for dishes, coils, games, etc.

;

also used in computing for 'disk'.

Plate, dish, trayto coil, to windto check, to investigate

Usage highlights

PlateTrayHard diskCheck accountsCoil upTransfer business

Synonyms

  • 碟— Small plate, saucer
  • 查— To check, investigate
  • 绕— To wind, coil

Antonyms

  • 散— To scatter, disperse (antonym to coiling)
  • 直— Straight (antonym to winding/coiling)

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • A plate of fruit(一盘水果)
  • Check the accounts(盘账)
  • Hard disk drive(硬盘)
  • Coil up a rope(盘绳子)
  • Transfer a shop(盘店)

Collocations

  • Plate(盘子)
  • Tray(托盘)
  • Hard disk(硬盘)
  • Check accounts(盘账)
  • Coil up(盘绕)
  • Transfer business(盘店)

Idioms

  • Coiled dragon and crouching tiger(盘龙卧虎)
  • Ask in great detail(盘根问底)
  • Make a clean sweep(和盘托出)
  • Tortuous and circuitous(盘曲而上)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Historically used for ritual bronze vessels and plates in ancient China.
  • In business context, '盘' refers to transferring ownership of a shop or business.
  • In computing, adopted for terms like 'hard disk' (硬盘) and 'floppy disk' (软盘).
  • Used in traditional Chinese games like chess and Go as a measure word for games.

FAQ