潘 meaning and stroke order
A river that flows into the Han; surname
How to write 潘, stroke by stroke
15 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 潘
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (archaic) water in which rice has been washed
- (Tw) kitchen waste; food scraps (from Taiwanese, Tai-lo pr. [phun])
How 潘 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 番 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 潘
潘 combines water 氵 with 番 (fān), which gives the sound. Picture water 氵 swirling over a field of grain 番, like the cloudy water left after washing rice, an old meaning of 潘.
Today 潘 is used almost only as a surname, and it is a fairly common one. You will see it in names like 潘先生 (Pān xiānsheng), Mr. Pan. Example: 我的老师姓潘。(Wǒ de lǎoshī xìng Pān.) My teacher's surname is Pan.
Common mistake: Learners often read 潘 as fān because of its phonetic part 番 (fān), but 潘 is pronounced pān with a p sound. Also do not confuse it with 播 (bō, to sow or broadcast), which has the hand radical 扌 instead of water 氵.
潘 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 潘
Learning 潘 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 潘
How many strokes are in 潘?
潘 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 潘 mean?
潘 (pān) means a river that flows into the Han; surname.
How do you pronounce 潘?
潘 is pronounced pān, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 潘?
The radical of 潘 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 潘 under this radical.
Is 潘 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 潘 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 潘 used in any everyday words besides the surname?
Not really in Mandarin. Its old meaning of rice-washing water is archaic, and in Taiwan it can refer to kitchen scraps through a Taiwanese loan, but most people know it only as a surname.
Who is a famous person with the surname 潘?
One well-known example is 潘玮柏 (Pān Wěibó), a Taiwanese singer. In classical stories, 潘安 (Pān Ān) is a name people use to describe a very handsome man.