胆
dǎn
gall bladder
courage; guts; gall; inner container (e.g. bladder of a football, inner container of a thermos)
flesh (⺼) + phonetic (旦) = the body's guts and gall
The flesh radical grounds the meaning in the body — the gall bladder is the organ that stores bile, long associated in Chinese culture with daring and nerve. 旦 mainly contributes the sound dǎn; the meaning comes from the body radical.
他胆子很大，一个人敢走夜路。
tā dǎn zi hěn dà , yī gè rén gǎn zǒu yè lù 。
he has a lot of guts; he dares to walk alone at night.
医生说他的胆有问题，需要手术。
yī shēng shuō tā de dǎn yǒu wèn tí , xū yào shǒu shù 。
the doctor said there is a problem with his gall bladder and he needs surgery.
Words with 胆
肝胆相照
gān dǎn xiāng zhào
to treat one another with absolute sincerity (idiom); to show total devotion
胆囊
dǎn náng
gallbladder
胆战心惊
dǎn zhàn xīn jīng
to tremble with fear (idiom)
卧薪尝胆
wò xīn cháng dǎn
lit. to sleep on brushwood and taste gall (like King Goujian of Yue 勾踐|勾践[Gou1 jian4], in order to recall one's humiliations) (idiom)
惊心胆颤
jīng xīn dǎn chàn
frightening
鼠胆
shǔ dǎn
cowardly
龙肝凤胆
lóng gān fèng dǎn
rare food
龙胆
lóng dǎn
rough gentian
龙胆紫
lóng dǎn zǐ
gentian violet C25H30ClN3
一身是胆
yī shēn shì dǎn
devoid of fear (idiom)
乙酰胆碱
yǐ xiān dǎn jiǎn
acetylcholine ACh (amine related to vitamin B complex)
倾心吐胆
qīng xīn tǔ dǎn
to pour out one's heart (idiom)