Definitions

rào (verb) to wind; to coil; to rotate around; to spiral
rào (verb) to go around; to bypass; to make a detour

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character 绕, whose traditional form is 繞, etymologically centers on the action of coiling or winding, derived from its silk radical 糸 which indicates a thread-based action, combined with the component 堯 which historically suggested height or elevation, possibly evoking the image of threads wound upward or encircling something. Over time, its core meaning expanded from the concrete physical act of winding, such as with thread or a cord, to encompass more abstract applications like detouring around an obstacle or metaphorically encircling and surrounding a subject. The simplified form 绕, prevalent in contemporary usage, retains the silk radical in its simplified form 纟 while streamlining the phonetic component to 尧, thus maintaining the character's conceptual link to coiled or circular motion while presenting a structurally less complex graph.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

过那棵树

Wǒ ràoguò nà kē shù

I go around that tree.

孩子们围老师坐

Háizimen wéirào lǎoshī zuò

The children sit around the teacher.

这条路道而行

Zhè tiáo lù ràodào ér xíng

This road detours.

绳子缠在柱子上

Shéngzi chánrào zài zhùzi shàng

The rope is tangled around the pillar.

我们湖走了一圈

Wǒmen rào hú zǒule yī quān

We walked around the lake once.

开话题直接回答

Tā rào kāi huàtí zhíjiē huídá

He avoided the topic and answered directly.

飞机城市飞行一周

Fēijī rào chéngshì fēixíng yī zhōu

The airplane flew around the city for one round.

这个问题去很复杂

Zhège wèntí rào lái rào qù hěn fùzá

This issue is very complicated as it goes around in circles.