還

還 (Kangxi radical 162, 辵+13, 17 strokes in traditional Chinese and Korean, 16 strokes in mainland China and Japanese, cangjie input 卜田中女 (YWLV), four-corner 3630₃, composition ⿺辶睘)

• KangXi: page 1266, character 23
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 39174
• Dae Jaweon: page 1764, character 12
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3888, character 2
• Unihan data for U+9084

Historical forms of the character 還
Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ɡʷraːn, *sɢʷan) : semantic 辵 (“walk”) + phonetic 睘 (OC *ɡʷeŋ) – to go back; to return.

“to return”

From Austroasiatic; compare Khmer រង្វាន់ (rŭəngvŏən, “reward; award; bonus”) (Schuessler, 2007). Probably related to 環 (OC *ɡʷraːn, “ring; to encircle”) (ibid.).

"still; also"

The Mandarin reading hái is perhaps from huán (huán → hán → hái), ultimately from the verb sense "to return" (Zhao, 2018).

還

1. to return to a place; to go back to a place

   還家／还家  ―  huánjiā  ―  to return home

   還鄉／还乡  ―  huánxiāng  ―  to return to one's hometown

   還原／还原  ―  huányuán  ―  to return to the original state, [chemistry] to reduce

   還俗／还俗  ―  huánsú  ―  to resume secular life

2. to return an object; to give back

   償還／偿还  ―  chánghuán  ―  to reimburse

   還書／还书  ―  huánshū  ―  to return the books (to the library)

   欠錢不還／欠钱不还  ―  qiàn qián bù huán  ―  to owe money (without the intention of paying back)

   把我的手機還給我。 [MSC, trad.]
   把我的手机还给我。 [MSC, simp.]

   Bǎ wǒ de shǒujī huán gěi wǒ. [Pinyin]

   Give my mobile back to me.

   • 2014, “火燒島／火烧岛 (Huǒshāo Dǎo) [Set Fire to the Island]”, in 失竊千年／失窃千年 [Timeless Sentence], performed by 閃靈樂團 [Chthonic]:

     失散的靈魂用恁的命來還 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     失散的灵魂用恁的命来还 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     [translit?] [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     (please add an English translation of this example)

3. to do or give something in return

   還嘴／还嘴  ―  huánzuǐ  ―  to retort

   還手／还手  ―  huánshǒu  ―  to hit back

   還禮／还礼  ―  huánlǐ  ―  to present a gift in return

   還擊／还击  ―  huánjī  ―  to fight back

   還價／还价  ―  huánjià  ―  to make a counter-offer buying price

   以眼還眼，以牙還牙 [MSC, trad.]
   以眼还眼，以牙还牙 [MSC, simp.]

   yǐ yǎn huán yǎn, yǐ yá huán yá [Pinyin]

   (literally) an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; tit for tat

4. (Cantonese) to treat separately

   Synonym: 歸／归 (guī) (Mandarin)

   • 1995, Out of the Dark, spoken by Leon (Stephen Chow):

     七孔流血還七孔流血，死還死，兩回事嚟嘅，你千祈唔好混淆。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     七孔流血还七孔流血，死还死，两回事嚟嘅，你千祈唔好混淆。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     cat¹ hung² lau⁴ hyut³ waan⁴ cat¹ hung² lau⁴ hyut³, sei² waan⁴ sei², loeng⁵ wui⁴ si⁶ lai⁴ ge³, nei⁵ cin¹ kei⁴ m⁴ hou² wan⁶ ngaau⁴. [Jyutping]

     (please add an English translation of this example)

5. (Malaysia, Singapore, obsolete in Philippine Hokkien) to pay
6. a surname

• → Thai: หวน (hǔuan)

還

1. still; yet; indicates that the phenomenon or observation still exists or the action is still ongoing

   他還沒來。／他还没来。  ―  Tā hái méi lái.  ―  He hasn't come yet.

   還未得住。／还未得住。 [Taishanese]  ―  van³ mei⁵ ak² zi⁵. [Wiktionary]  ―  It's still not OK.

   你怎麼還沒到？／你怎么还没到？  ―  Nǐ zěnme hái méi dào?  ―  Why are you still not here?

   這裡還是老樣子。／这里还是老样子。  ―  Zhèlǐ hái shì lǎo yàngzi.  ―  Here's still the same as before.

   十點了，他還在工作。 [MSC, trad.]
   十点了，他还在工作。 [MSC, simp.]

   Shí diǎn le, tā hái zài gōngzuò. [Pinyin]

   It's ten o'clock already and he is still working.

   幾年不見，她還那麼漂亮。 [MSC, trad.]
   几年不见，她还那么漂亮。 [MSC, simp.]

   Jǐ nián bù jiàn, tā hái nàme piàoliàng. [Pinyin]

   She is still very beautiful after all these years.

   考試完還要上課。／考试完还要上课。  ―  Kǎoshì wán hái yào shàngkè.  ―  (I) still have classes after the exams.

2. also; as well

   她會說英語，還會說西班牙語。 [MSC, trad.]
   她会说英语，还会说西班牙语。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā huì shuō yīngyǔ, hái huì shuō xībānyáyǔ. [Pinyin]

   She can speak English and can also speak Spanish.

   他賠了一大筆錢，還丟了工作。 [MSC, trad.]
   他赔了一大笔钱，还丢了工作。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā péi le yī dà bǐ qián, hái diū le gōngzuò. [Pinyin]

   He lost a lot of money and even his job.

3. even more; indicates an increase from a certain level or a supplement

   今年比去年還冷。／今年比去年还冷。  ―  Jīnnián bǐ qùnián hái lěng.  ―  This year is even colder than last year.

4. (before adjectives, mostly positive) passably; (surprisingly) quite

   我的成績還可以。／我的成绩还可以。  ―  Wǒ de chéngjì hái kěyǐ.  ―  I have a passable grade.

   屋子不大，收拾得倒還乾淨。 [MSC, trad.]
   屋子不大，收拾得倒还干净。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wūzi bù dà, shōushi dé dǎo hái qiánjìng. [Pinyin]

   It's quite clean for such a small room.

   孩子不大，還挺懂事的。 [MSC, trad.]
   孩子不大，还挺懂事的。 [MSC, simp.]

   Háizi bù dà, hái tǐng dǒngshì de. [Pinyin]

   The small kid is surprisingly quite sensible.

   這蛋糕還挺好吃的。 [MSC, trad.]
   这蛋糕还挺好吃的。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè dàngāo hái tǐng hǎochī de. [Pinyin]

   That was a pretty tasty cake.

5. (often in rhetorical questions) indicates condition and contrast, interchangeable with 都 (dōu); even

   你還搬不動，何況我呢？ [MSC, trad.]
   你还搬不动，何况我呢？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ hái bān bù dòng, hékuàng wǒ ne? [Pinyin]

   Even you can't move it, let alone me.

6. indicates unexpectedness; really

   他還真有辦法。／他还真有办法。  ―  Tā hái zhēn yǒu bànfǎ.  ―  Surprisingly he has a way to do this.

   還真的是。／还真的是。  ―  Hái zhēnde shì.  ―  It really is so[; would you look at that.]

7. indicates past events; emphasising earliness

   還在幾年以前，我們就研究過這個方案。 [MSC, trad.]
   还在几年以前，我们就研究过这个方案。 [MSC, simp.]

   Hái zài jǐ nián yǐqián, wǒmen jiù yánjiū guò zhège fāng'àn. [Pinyin]

   The proposal has been studied by us a couple of years ago (and now you made the suggestion to study it).

8. (Hakka, usually in exclamation) very

   還大雨噢！／还大雨噢！ [Meixian Hakka]  ―  han² tai⁴ yi³ o³! [Hakka Transliteration Scheme]  ―  It's raining heavily!

還

1. ^† Alternative form of 旋 (xuán, “to rotate; to turn around”).
2. ^† nimble; agile
3. ^† immediately

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

• Go-on: げん (gen); ぜん (zen)
• Kan-on: かん (kan, Jōyō); せん (sen)
• Kan’yō-on: かん (kan, Jōyō)
• Kun: かえる (kaeru, 還る); また (mata, 還); めぐる (meguru)

From Middle Chinese 還 (MC ɦˠuan).

• IPA^(key): [kã̠ɴ]

還(かん) • (kan) 

1. to return

還 • (hwan, seon) (hangeul 환, 선)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

還: Hán Nôm readings: hoàn

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.