ruan

See also: Ruan, ruán, ruàn, Ruán, ruǎn, ruan2, and ruan3

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 阮 (short for 阮咸, ruǎnxián).

Noun

ruan (plural ruans)

1. (music) A Chinese long-necked fretted round-bodied plucked lute which has, since the mid-20th century, been produced in a family of five sizes (from low to high).

Synonyms

• ruanqin (mainly in reference to Taiwan)

Hyponyms

• gaoyinruan (soprano)
• xiaoruan (alto)
• zhongruan (tenor)
• daruan (bass)
• diyinruan (contrabass)

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of chordophones

Anagrams

• Arun, Uran, uran-, urna

Mandarin

Romanization

ruan

1. Nonstandard spelling of ruán.
2. Nonstandard spelling of ruǎn.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Tiruray

Noun

ruan

1. mudfish