丹

dān
#1,278 most
frequent character
red, pellet, powder, cinnabar

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

丹 began as a picture of a mining well with 丶, a chunk of ore, inside it. It first meant cinnabar, a brick-red mercury mineral. The meaning red came from its color, and pellet came later.

Drawn as: a mining well; a chunk of ore

丹 as a component in other characters

meaning1 character
彤
sound3 characters
坍旃栴

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Homophones

单dān
single, odd, unlined, thin, weak
担dān
measure word for goods carried on a shoulder pole

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