盤 meaning and stroke order
Tray, plate, dish; to examine
How to write 盤, stroke by stroke
15 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 盤
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- tray; plate; dish
- (finance) (bound form) market prices
- (computing) (bound form) disk
- to coil (a rope, pigtail etc)
- to check; to examine; to investigate
- to transfer; to sell (property)
How 盤 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Dish.
皿 gives the meaning and 般 hints at the sound.
Radical: 皿 (dish), shared by 28 characters on this site.
How to remember 盤
盤 is built from 般 (bān) on top of 皿 (mǐn), the dish radical. Picture a dish 皿 at the bottom with 般 on top giving the sound, so the whole character means a flat dish or tray.
盤 is the traditional form; mainland China writes 盘. It means plate or tray, and it extends to round, flat things like disks, wheels and keyboards, as in 硬盘 (yìngpán, hard disk) and 方向盘 (fāngxiàngpán, steering wheel). Example: 桌上有一個盤子。(Zhuō shang yǒu yí ge pánzi.) There is a plate on the table.
Common mistake: Learners often read 盤 as bān because of the phonetic part 般, but it is pán with a rising second tone. Also do not confuse it with 盆 (pén, basin), which shares the 皿 bottom but is a deep bowl, not a flat plate.
Common words with 盤
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 盤子 | pánzi | tray; plate | HSK 4 |
| 光盤 | guāngpán | compact disc (CD); DVD; CD-ROM | HSK 4 |
| 鍵盤 | jiànpán | keyboard | HSK 5 |
| 硬盤 | yìngpán | hard disk | HSK 7-9 |
| 方向盤 | fāngxiàngpán | steering wheel | HSK 7-9 |
| 磁盤 | cípán | (computer) disk | HSK 7-9 |
| 盤算 | pánsuan | to plot; to scheme | HSK 7-9 |
| 算盤 | suànpán | abacus; plan | HSK 7-9 |
| 地盤 | dìpán | domain; territory under one's control | |
| 盤問 | pánwèn | to interrogate; to cross-examine | |
| 盤旋 | pánxuán | to spiral; to circle | |
| 托盤 | tuōpán | tray; salver | |
| 羅盤 | luópán | compass | |
| 棋盤 | qípán | chessboard |
Questions about 盤
How many strokes are in 盤?
盤 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 盤 mean?
盤 (pán) means tray, plate, dish; to examine. A common word with it is 盘子 (pánzi), meaning "tray; plate".
How do you pronounce 盤?
盤 is pronounced pán, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 盤?
The radical of 盤 is 皿, which carries the idea of "dish". Dictionaries list 盤 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 盤?
盤 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 盘, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 盤子 and 碟子?
Both mean plate. 盤子 (pánzi) is the general word and often a larger plate for serving food, while 碟子 (diézi) usually means a small dish or saucer.
How is 盤 used as a measure word?
盤 can count plates of food and games of chess or similar board games. For example, 一盤菜 (yì pán cài) is a plate of food, and 下一盤棋 (xià yì pán qí) means to play a game of chess.