Luân

Luân is a Sino-Vietnamese word written as luân in Vietnamese, commonly used as a morpheme derived from the Chinese character 轮/輪, meaning wheel or circle. In Vietnamese, luân appears in a range of compound terms that convey rotation, cycle, or ethical ordering.

Common derivatives include luân hồi (轮回) referring to reincarnation or cyclic fate; luân phiên (轮番) meaning alternation or rotation among participants; luân chuyển (轮转) meaning to rotate or circulate; luân lý (伦理) meaning ethics or morality.

Beyond its lexical function, luân is also used as a personal name in Vietnam, typically a masculine given name; the choice of character may vary, but it often conveys notions of order, cycle, or virtue. In historical and religious or philosophical contexts, luân appears in discussions of moral order or cosmic cycles, akin to concepts of law or order in virtue ethics.

Relation to other languages: In Chinese, the corresponding character is 轮/輪 (lún). In Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary, luân conveys similar semantic fields of wheel, cycle, or ethics, and appears in neologisms and classical translations.