Chinese word

卵

Pronunciation

Pinyinluǎn

Meaning

  • nounegg

Example

鸟巢里有三个卵。niǎo cháo lǐ yǒu sān gè luǎn

There are three eggs in the bird's nest.

Illustration for 卵 (egg)

More examples

母鸡把卵衔到巢里。mǔ jī bǎ luǎn xián dào cháo lǐ

The hen carried an egg to the nest.

Core concept

A contained beginning of animal life, shaped as a round or oval body that may also serve as food.

Common phrases

  • 受精卵shòu jīng luǎn

    fertilized egg

  • 鱼卵yú luǎn

    fish eggs

  • 鸟卵niǎo luǎn

    bird egg

Similar words

鸡蛋jī dàn: A chicken egg used as food, especially in everyday shopping and cooking.
蛋dàn: The whole egg produced by an animal and enclosed by a shell or membrane.

Definition in Chinese

动物体产下的有壳或无壳的圆形或椭圆形体，内部可含胚胎或可作为食物的蛋白和蛋黄。dòng wù tǐ chǎn xià de yǒu ké huò wú ké de yuán xíng huò tuǒ yuán xíng tǐ nèi bù kě hán pēi tāi huò kě zuò wéi shí wù de dàn bái hé dàn huáng

Word origin

卵 (luǎn, "egg") is a pictographic character whose early shape represented an egg, and that original image supports its use for both animal reproduction and food.

Usage tips

  • The word often suits descriptions of nests, farms, or laboratories, while everyday cooking and shopping contexts usually use a more colloquial expression for the food sense.

Opposites

  • 精子jīng zispermnoun

Related words

  • 卵黄luǎn huángegg yolknoun
  • 卵白luǎn báiegg whitenoun
  • 卵形luǎn xíngoval-shapedadjective

Word lists with this word