ruan

Meaning

Noun

• 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).

Related

Similar words

• ruanqin (mainly in reference to Taiwan)

Narrower meaning words

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

Origin

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