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字源zìyuánEtymology & Structure
字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight
蛋 stacks two parts top to bottom: 蛋 = 疋 + 虫. The 虫 underneath is the radical, the ancient pictograph of a coiled snake or worm that came to label every small egg-laying creature, from insects to reptiles to birds. The 疋 riding on top is the phonetic, carrying the dàn sound rather than any meaning of its own. So the glyph is a pictophonetic: a creature-sign on the bottom telling you the category, a sound-sign on top telling you how to say it.
The semantic logic is direct. Eggs are what the small crawling and slithering things of the world produce. By writing the egg-word under 虫, the script files it with snakes, fish roe, and insect clutches before it ever settled onto the hen's egg you crack at breakfast. That breadth survives: 鱼蛋 (yú dàn) are fish balls shaped like roe, 龙蛋 (lóng dàn) is a dragon's egg in legend, and the radical never lets you forget that an egg begins inside a living animal.
From the round, fragile object the meaning spread to anything egg-shaped: a ball of dough, a lump, a head. Then it took a sharp turn into insult. Calling someone a 蛋 reduces them to a mere object, a thing hatched rather than raised, and the slang 坏蛋 (huài dàn, bad egg) and 笨蛋 (bèn dàn, dumb egg) hit a Mandarin ear roughly the way English "rotten egg" does, with extra bite.
厨房chúfángKitchen Eggs
鸡蛋jīdànchicken egg
N 名词 míngcí
鸡 (jī, chicken) + 蛋 (egg): the default egg in Chinese kitchens. When a recipe or menu just says egg, it means a hen's egg, so 鸡蛋 is one of the first nouns most learners cook with.
我早上吃了两个鸡蛋。
Wǒ zǎoshang chīle liǎng gè jīdàn.
I ate two eggs this morning.
西红柿炒鸡蛋是最家常的菜。
Xīhóngshì chǎo jīdàn shì zuì jiācháng de cài.
Tomato and egg stir-fry is the most everyday home dish.
蛋糕dàngāocake
N 名词 míngcí
蛋 (egg) + 糕 (gāo, a steamed or baked flour cake): a cake gets its name from the eggs whipped into the batter. The word covers birthday cakes, sponge cakes, and the slice you buy at a café.
生日那天我们买了一个大蛋糕。
Shēngrì nèitiān wǒmen mǎile yí gè dà dàngāo.
On the birthday we bought a big cake.
辨析 biànxī · 蛋糕 vs. 饼干 蛋糕 is soft and egg-rich; 饼干 (bǐnggān) is a dry biscuit or cracker. Both are 糕点 (gāodiǎn, pastries), but only 蛋糕 carries the egg in its name.
炒蛋chǎodànscrambled eggs
N 名词 míngcí
炒 (chǎo, to stir-fry) + 蛋: eggs broken into a hot wok and pushed around until they set in soft curds. The same 炒 powers most Chinese cooking, so 炒蛋 reads as plainly as English "scrambled eggs."
他不会做菜，只会做炒蛋。
Tā bú huì zuò cài, zhǐ huì zuò chǎodàn.
He can't really cook; all he can make is scrambled eggs.
皮蛋pídàncentury egg, preserved egg
N 名词 míngcí
皮 (pí, skin) + 蛋: a duck egg cured in lime, ash, and salt until the white turns to dark amber jelly and the yolk to creamy green-grey. The leathery surface gives it the "skin" name.
皮蛋瘦肉粥是广东早餐的经典。
Pídàn shòuròu zhōu shì Guǎngdōng zǎocān de jīngdiǎn.
Century egg and lean pork congee is a Cantonese breakfast classic.
部位bùwèiEgg Parts & Forms
观察 guānchá · Note
蛋 also names the parts inside the shell and any object that borrows the egg's shape. 蛋白 (egg white) and 蛋黄 (yolk) split the egg by color, white and yellow, while 鸭蛋 (duck egg) doubles as student slang for a zero on a test, because a fat round 0 looks exactly like an egg.
蛋白dànbáiegg white; protein
N 名词 míngcí
蛋 (egg) + 白 (bái, white): literally the white of the egg. In science it extends to protein in general, and 蛋白质 (dànbáizhì) is the standard word for dietary protein.
健身的人需要多吃蛋白质。
Jiànshēn de rén xūyào duō chī dànbáizhì.
People who work out need to eat more protein.
蛋黄dànhuángegg yolk
N 名词 míngcí
蛋 (egg) + 黄 (huáng, yellow): the yolk. It pairs neatly with 蛋白, the two halves of every egg named by their color. Salted yolk, 咸蛋黄 (xián dànhuáng), is a prized flavor in mooncakes and pastries.
这个月饼里有一个完整的咸蛋黄。
Zhège yuèbǐng lǐ yǒu yí gè wánzhěng de xián dànhuáng.
This mooncake has a whole salted egg yolk inside.
鸭蛋yādànduck egg; a zero (slang)
N 名词 míngcí
鸭 (yā, duck) + 蛋: a duck egg, larger and richer than a hen's. Among students it means a score of zero, since the round 0 on a test paper looks like an egg sitting there.
蛋 turns a quality into a person: take an adjective, attach 蛋, and you label someone as that quality made flesh. 坏 + 蛋 yields a bad egg, 笨 + 蛋 a dumb egg, 滚 + 蛋 a "roll away, egg." The 蛋 reduces the target to an object, which is exactly what makes it sting.
坏蛋huàidànbad egg, villain
N 名词 míngcí
坏 (huài, bad, rotten) + 蛋: a scoundrel or villain. It ranges from a child's playground taunt to a story's outright bad guy, lighter than a true profanity but clearly an insult.
电影里的坏蛋最后被抓住了。
Diànyǐng lǐ de huàidàn zuìhòu bèi zhuāzhù le.
The villain in the movie was finally caught.
辨析 biànxī · 坏蛋 vs. 笨蛋 坏蛋 calls someone morally bad; 笨蛋 (bèndàn) calls someone stupid. A 坏蛋 means harm, a 笨蛋 just can't think straight.
笨蛋bèndànidiot, fool
N 名词 míngcí
笨 (bèn, stupid, clumsy) + 蛋: a fool or dimwit. Among close friends it softens into teasing, even affection, but aimed at a stranger it lands as a real insult.
你这个笨蛋，连这个都不会。
Nǐ zhège bèndàn, lián zhège dōu bú huì.
You idiot, you can't even do this.
滚蛋gǔndànget lost, scram
V 动词 dòngcí
滚 (gǔn, to roll) + 蛋: a blunt order to get out. The image is of telling someone to roll away like a dropped egg. It is rude and forceful, used only in anger.
他生气地喊：你给我滚蛋！
Tā shēngqì de hǎn: nǐ gěi wǒ gǔndàn!
He shouted angrily: Get the hell out!
成语chéngyǔIdioms & Set Phrases
鸡蛋里挑骨头jīdàn lǐ tiāo gǔtouto pick bones out of an egg: to nitpick, to find fault where there is noneA vivid colloquial saying: an egg has no bones, so hunting for one means inventing flaws. Used of a critic or boss who complains about everything.
以卵击石yǐ luǎn jī shíto throw an egg at a rock: to attempt the hopelessly outmatchedHere the egg is 卵 (luǎn), the classical word for egg, but the image is the same fragile shell shattering on stone. Describes a doomed fight against overwhelming force.
鸡飞蛋打jī fēi dàn dǎthe hen flies off and the eggs break: to lose everything, ending up empty-handedA botched scheme where both the chicken and its eggs are lost. Said when an attempt to grab more leaves you with nothing at all.
完蛋wándànfinished egg: to be done for, ruined, all overNot a four-character chengyu but a fixed colloquial expression. 完 (wán, to finish) + 蛋 marks total collapse: 完蛋了 (wándàn le) means we're finished, it's all over.
记忆法 jìyìfǎ · Master Retention Image
Picture a smooth white egg balanced on the back of a coiled worm. The worm is 虫 at the bottom of the glyph, the radical that files this egg with every small creature that lays one. The shape riding on top, 疋, is mute: it only whispers the sound dàn, like a label stuck on the shell with no recipe inside.
Now crack that egg open and watch the meanings spill out. The runny 蛋白 (white) and golden 蛋黄 (yolk) name the inside by color. Whip them into batter and you get 蛋糕, cake. Drop the whole egg on a stone floor and it splatters: that splatter is 完蛋, finished, done for. And when you sneer at the broken mess on the tiles and call it a 坏蛋, a bad egg, you have walked the character from the henhouse straight into the insult, with the worm at the bottom holding the whole story together.
相关xiāngguānRelated
Related entries — pages and vocabulary in the neighbourhood of this one
卵luǎnegg (literary/biological)鹌鹑蛋ānchún dànquail egg咸蛋xiándànsalted egg茶叶蛋cháyè dàntea egg荷包蛋hébāo dànfried egg, poached egg煮蛋zhǔ dànboiled egg蛋壳dànkéeggshell混蛋húndànbastard, scoundrel捣蛋dǎodànto make trouble, to be naughty脸蛋liǎndàncheeks, face (affectionate)鸡jīchicken蛋挞dàntàegg tart