About
The character 褴 (traditional form 襤) is a phono-semantic compound. Its left component, the "clothing" radical 衤, anchors its meaning to garments or textiles. The right component, 盧 (traditional 監), functions solely as a phonetic element indicating pronunciation. Its primary meaning refers to clothing that is tattered, ragged, or worn out. This character is most commonly encountered in the idiom "衣衫褴褛" (yīshān lánlǚ), which describes someone dressed in severely shabby or impoverished attire.
Etymology Hide
