卵

• Pinyin: luǎn
• Hanzi breakdown: 卵 = pictograph of two eggs side by side (fish roe, biological eggs)

Meaning

Egg; ovum; the reproductive cell of a female organism. Also refers to fish roe, insect eggs, or any biological egg.

Primarily a scientific and biological term. Key compounds: 卵巢 (ovary), 鱼卵 (fish eggs/roe), 产卵 (to lay eggs), 受精卵 (fertilised egg/zygote). Also appears in the idiom 以卵击石 (to throw eggs at a rock, meaning to attempt the impossible).

Examples

1. 雌鱼在浅水区大量产卵，孵化期约为两周，期间雄鱼会守护在卵群附近。 Female fish lay large numbers of eggs in shallow water; the incubation period is about two weeks, during which the males guard the cluster of eggs.
2. 医学研究发现，女性卵巢中的卵细胞数量从出生时便已固定，不会随年龄增加而新生。 Medical research has found that the number of egg cells in a woman’s ovaries is fixed from birth and does not increase with age.
3. 以卵击石，螳臂当车，这种以弱抗强的对抗方式最终只能以失败告终。 Like striking a stone with an egg or a mantis trying to stop a chariot, this kind of fighting the strong with the weak can only end in failure.

Usage Guide

Context: biology, medicine, zoology, idioms

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 实验室内成功实现了体外受精卵的培育，为不孕不育患者提供了新的希望。(The in vitro cultivation of fertilised eggs was successfully achieved in the laboratory, offering new hope for patients with infertility.)
• 鲑鱼每年洄游到出生地产卵，这一壮观的自然现象吸引了大批研究者前来观察。(Salmon return to their birthplace each year to spawn; this spectacular natural phenomenon attracts large numbers of researchers to observe it.)

Don't Say

• 将卵用于烹饪语境中泛指食用蛋 — 卵 is a formal biological term; in cooking and everyday speech, use specific terms such as 鸡蛋 (chicken egg) or 鸭蛋 (duck egg); 卵 sounds clinical and unnatural in food contexts

Origin & History

卵 = pictographic character originally depicting two fish eggs or roe; extended to mean any biological egg or ovum

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal