yùn​rǎn

shading

yūn halo in sky, dizzy Simplified

Simplified form of . Depicts thin clouds surrounding the sun (). The thin clouds were later replaced by the phonetic component . The meaning later shifted to "dizzy" and "faint".

Components

Iconic component
sun

Depicts the sun.

Sound component
jūn army

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

rǎn dye, infect, be contagious

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water
Sound component
mixed, various
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyemXC.n[a]mʔ to dye

說文解字

《說文》:“染,以繒染為色。从水,杂聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

yūn halo in sky, dizzy Traditional

Depicts thin clouds surrounding the sun (). The thin clouds were later replaced by the phonetic component . The meaning later shifted to "dizzy" and "faint".

Components

Iconic component
sun

Depicts the sun.

Sound component
jūn army

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɢuns
Unicodengiuən

說文解字

《說文新附》:“暈,日月气也。从日,軍聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica