潘

pān

氵 + 番

Definitions

Pān (noun) Pan (Greek mythology)

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 番 represents the sound.

Semantic: 氵 Phonetic: 番

About

潘 is a phono-semantic compound: the left component 氵 (shuǐ), the water radical, gives the meaning, and the right component 番 (fān) gives the sound. The meaning it originally conveyed was the water left after washing rice, a specific liquid that naturally explains the water radical. While historical dictionaries and classical texts preserve this literal definition, in modern Chinese the character is known almost exclusively as a common surname today.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical Wu (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Clerical Western Jin dynasty (266-316 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

潘先生是学校的老师。

Pān xiānsheng shì xuéxiào de lǎoshī.

Mr. Pan is a teacher at the school.

潘女士每天锻炼身体。

Pān nǚshì měitiān duànliàn shēntǐ.

Ms. Pan exercises every day.

潘老师教我们中文。

Pān lǎoshī jiāo wǒmen zhōngwén.

Teacher Pan teaches us Chinese.

潘多拉盒子充满了好奇。

Pānduōlā hézi chōngmǎnle hàoqí.

Pandora's box is full of curiosity.

潘帕斯草原位于南美洲。

Pānpàsī cǎoyuán wèiyú nánměizhōu.

The Pampas grassland is located in South America.

潘工程师设计了一座新桥。

Pān gōngchéngshī shèjìle yī zuò xīn qiáo.

Engineer Pan designed a new bridge.

潘经理主持了今天的会议。

Pān jīnglǐ zhǔchíle jīntiān de huìyì.

Manager Pan chaired today's meeting.

潘教授发表的论文影响很大。

Pān jiàoshòu fābiǎo de lùnwén yǐngxiǎng hěn dà.

The paper published by Professor Pan has a great impact.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 氵

Component: 番

潘