欢

懽/歡/讙/驩

huān

又 + 欠

Definitions

huān (adjective) happy; joyous; pleased; merry

huān (verb) to rejoice

huān (noun) joy; happiness

Etymology

Simplified form of 歡. Phonosemantic compound. 欠 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound. 欠 (yawn) is a pictograph of a person with an open mouth, used here to represent a person joyfully laughing.

About

欢 is the simplified form of 歡, a phono-semantic compound. The right-side radical 欠, a pictograph of a person with an open mouth, provides the meaning, here signifying joyful laughter. The left-side component 雚 (originally a pictograph of a heron) indicates the pronunciation. In combination, these elements represented a person vocalizing joy or cheering aloud. When the character was simplified, the complex 雚 was replaced with the simpler 又 to facilitate writing, while the open-mouthed figure remained to keep the sense of joy. The character now denotes joy, happiness, and delight, and forms part of many common words for welcome and celebration.

Etymology Hide

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我很喜欢你。

Wǒ hěn xǐhuān nǐ.

I like you very much.

欢迎来我家。

Huānyíng lái wǒ jiā.

Welcome to my home.

这里很欢乐。

Zhèlǐ hěn huānlè.

It is very joyful here.

他们在欢呼。

Tāmen zài huānhū.

They are cheering.

我们欢庆胜利。

Wǒmen huānqìng shènglì.

We celebrate the victory.

音乐让人欢欣。

Yīnyuè ràng rén huānxīn.

Music makes people joyful.

孩子们欢笑着玩耍。

Háizimen huānxiào zhe wánshuǎ.

The children are playing with laughter.

欢送仪式上大家都很感动。

Huānsòng yíshì shàng dàjiā dōu hěn gǎndòng.

Everyone was very moved at the farewell ceremony.

Related Characters

Component: 又

Component: 欠

欢