滥

濫

làn

氵 + 监

Definitions

làn (adjective) excessive; indiscriminate

làn (verb) to overflow

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 监 represents the sound. Simplified form of 濫.

Semantic: 氵 Phonetic: 监

About

A phono-semantic compound, 滥 combines the water radical 氵 with the phonetic 监 (jiān) to express flooding or overflow. It is the simplified form of 濫, where the phonetic element 監 originally depicted a person gazing down into a basin of water used as a mirror. From this literal image of water spilling over, the meaning extended to cover excessive, indiscriminate, or unrestrained behavior, appearing in terms such as 滥用 (abuse of power) and 滥花 (lavish spending).

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

不要滥用互联网资源。

Bù yào lànyòng hùliánwǎng zīyuán.

Do not abuse internet resources.

河水泛滥造成了灾害。

Héshuǐ fànlàn zàochéngle zāihài.

The river flooding caused a disaster.

滥伐森林破坏环境。

Lànfá sēnlín pòhuài huánjìng.

Deforestation damages the environment.

公司严禁滥用公司资金。

Gōngsī yánjìn lànyòng gōngsī zījīn.

The company strictly prohibits the misuse of company funds.

由于滥捕，鱼类资源减少了。

Yóuyú lànbǔ, yǔlèi zīyuán jiǎnshǎole.

Due to overfishing, fish resources have decreased.

这种滥收费的现象必须制止。

Zhè zhǒng làn shōufèi de xiànxiàng bìxū zhìzhǐ.

This phenomenon of excessive charging must be stopped.

如果继续滥垦土地，生态环境将恶化。

Rúguǒ jìxù làn kěn tǔdì, shēngtài huánjìng jiāng èhuà.

If we continue to reclaim land excessively, the ecological environment will deteriorate.

尽管法律禁止滥砍滥伐，但一些地区仍然存在。

Jǐnguǎn fǎlǜ jìnzhǐ làn kǎn làn fá, dàn yīxiē dìqū réngrán cúnzài.

Although laws prohibit excessive logging, it still exists in some areas.

Related Characters

Component: 氵

Component: 监

滥