A wonton (traditional Chinese: 餛飩; simplified Chinese: 馄饨; pinyin: húntun; Jyutping: wan4 tan1) is a type of Chinese dumpling commonly found across regional styles of Chinese cuisine. It is also spelled wantan or wuntun, a transliteration from Cantonese wan4 tan1 (雲吞/云吞), and wenden from Shanghainese hhun den (餛飩/馄饨). Even though there are many different styles of wonton served throughout China, Cantonese wontons are the most popular in the West due to the predominance of Cantonese restaurants overseas.

Wontons, which have their origins in China, have achieved significant popularity in East Asian cuisine, as well as across various Southeast Asian culinary traditions.

In Mandarin, they are called huntun (simplified Chinese: 馄饨; traditional Chinese: 餛飩; pinyin: húntun).

In Cantonese, they are called wantan (simplified Chinese: 云吞; traditional Chinese: 雲吞; Jyutping: wan4 tan1; Cantonese Yale: wàhn tān), which means "cloud swallow" because when they are cooked, the dumplings float in the broth like small clouds.

In the Hokkien language, they are called Pián-si̍t (Chinese: 扁食; pinyin: Pián-si̍t).

Yang Xiong from the western Han dynasty mentioned "bing wei zhi tun", which means wontons are a type of bread.^{[citation needed]} The difference is that wontons have fillings inside and are eaten after being steamed or boiled.

The ancient Han Chinese thought wonton were a sealed bun, lacking "qi qiao" ('seven orifices'), so it was called "hun dun" (混沌), which means 'turbidity' or 'chaos'. Based on the Chinese method of making written characters, the radicals are changed from water to food; then, they became "hun tun" (餛飩, wonton in Cantonese). At that time, wonton had no difference from dumplings.

For centuries, the popularity and affinity of dumplings had not changed among the Han Chinese, but wontons eventually became popular in southern China and developed a distinct culinary style. From the time of the Tang dynasty, the Chinese began to differentiate the names of dumplings (jiaozi) and wontons.