光盘

• Pinyin: guāng pán
• Hanzi breakdown: 光 = pictograph of fire above a person, meaning 'light'; 盘 = simplified from 盤, 般 (carry, phonetic) + 皿 (dish) — a flat dish or plate

Meaning

CD; disc; optical disc. A flat, round data storage medium that uses laser technology to read and write information.

Refers to CDs, DVDs, and other optical storage media. While physical discs are less common now due to digital media, the word is still widely understood. Also appears in the phrase 光盘行动 (Clean Plate Campaign), a social movement encouraging people to finish all the food on their plates to reduce waste.

Examples

1. 小时候我经常去商店买音乐光盘。 When I was young, I often went to the store to buy music CDs.
2. 这些旧光盘里存着我大学时候的照片。 These old discs contain photos from my college days.
3. 现在很少有人用光盘了，大家都用网络下载。 Very few people use CDs now; everyone downloads from the internet.

Usage Guide

Context: technology, everyday, media

Tone: descriptive

Do Say

• 你还有DVD光盘吗？(Do you still have any DVD discs?)
• 这张光盘已经坏了，读不出来了。(This disc is broken and can't be read.)

Don't Say

• 我在光盘上看了一部电影 (This sounds dated — modern Chinese speakers would say 我在网上看了一部电影 for watching movies online)

Origin & History

光 (guāng, light/laser) + 盘 (pán, disc/plate) — literally 'light disc,' referring to the laser technology used to read optical media.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal