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蛋

egg

dàn
11 strokes · 疋 (roll/foot) + 虫 (insect/creature) — the round thing creatures come from · HSK 2

What 蛋 is made of

疋 + 虫 = 蛋
疋bolt of cloth / foot
虫insect

Where 蛋 comes from

虫 at the bottom marks 蛋 as biology: the package every small creature hatches from. The character is young by Chinese standards — a latecomer that displaced the older 卵 in everyday speech because eggs, like the word, are daily goods.

蛋 in Chinese culture

茶叶蛋 tea eggs perfume every convenience store; 番茄炒蛋 tomato-scrambled-eggs is the first dish every Chinese student abroad learns to cook — the taste of home in eight minutes. 蛋 also does insult duty: 笨蛋 'stupid egg', 坏蛋 'bad egg', 完蛋 'finished egg' (doomed).

Example

鸡蛋 jīdàn — chicken egg

我早饭吃了两个鸡蛋。
Wǒ zǎofàn chī le liǎng ge jīdàn.
I had two eggs for breakfast.

How to remember it

The round bundle 疋 every creature 虫 starts inside — an EGG.

脸红得像鸡蛋 isn't a thing, but 滚蛋 'roll, egg!' is — the rudest way to say 'get lost' involves telling someone to roll away like an egg.

Same sound, different tones

单
1st dān
single
胆
3rd dǎn
gallbladder
蛋
4th dàn
egg

Words unlocked by 蛋

鸡蛋 jīdàn
egg
笨蛋 bèndàn
fool

Related characters

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One character a morning · 455-character HSK library · iOS