Definitions

tǔn to float; to deep-fry

Etymology phono-semantic

water

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character is a compound ideogram: (person) placed above (water) visually represents a person floating on the surface of water, giving it the primary meaning "to float". In certain regional dialects, particularly in cooking, it also refers to deep-frying because ingredients float when cooked in hot oil. Care should be taken not to confuse it with the visually similar , which places (enter) above and means "to quick-boil". has no simplified or traditional variant, conveying its meaning through the spatial arrangement of its components.