Meaning
dawn; morning; day-break; day
Chinese: 黎明、拂晓。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “dan” becomes a different word in each tone. 旦 is the 4th tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 一旦yī dànin case (sth happens); if; once (sth happens, then...); when
- 正旦zhèng dànstarring female role in a Chinese opera
- 文旦wén dànpomelo
- 老旦lǎo dànold woman role in Chinese opera
- 平旦píng dàn(literary) daybreak; dawn
Example Sentence
元旦是新一年的第一天。Yuán dàn shì xīn yì nián de dì yī tiān.New Year Day is the first day of the new year.
元旦Yuán dànNew Year's Day是shìis新xīnnew一yìone年niányear的deof第一dì yīfirst天tiānday。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The sun (日) resting on the horizon line (一): the sun just clearing the ground — daybreak. It means ‘dawn / daybreak’.
A way to remember it
The sun sitting right on the horizon — dawn.
Easy to confuse with
- 早‘Early’: the sun over a taller sprout (十), not flat on a single line.