散 meaning in English

sàn

to scatter; to break up (a meeting etc)

HSK 4verb12 strokes

Meaning of 散

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

sàn

to scatter
to break up (a meeting etc)
to disperse
to disseminate
to dispel
(coll.) to sack

sàn

variant of 散[san4]

sǎn

scattered
loose
to come loose
to fall apart
leisurely
powdered medicine

How to use 散

As sàn it is a verb meaning to scatter, disperse, or break up, as in 解散 (jiěsàn) to disband and 扩散 (kuòsàn) to spread. A very common everyday word is 散步 (sànbù), to take a walk. Example: 会议散了。(Huìyì sàn le.) The meeting broke up.

The right side 攵 looks like a hand holding a stick, so picture someone beating a pile of things on the left until the pieces scatter everywhere. That is 散 (sàn), to scatter or break apart.

Common mistake: Learners often use only the fourth tone, but 散 is read sǎn (third tone) when it means loose or scattered, as in 散文 (sǎnwén) prose. In 散步 it is fourth tone: sànbù, not sǎnbù.

散 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

跟gēn我wǒ们men一yì起qǐ散sàn步bù怎zěn么me样yàng？

How about taking a walk with us?

让ràng我wǒ们men在zài公gōng园yuán里lǐ散sàn步bù吧ba。

Let's take a walk in the park.

我wǒ父fù亲qīn每měi天tiān早zǎo上shàng去qù散sàn步bù。

My father takes a walk every morning.

雨yǔ让ràng我wǒ们men没méi有yǒu办bàn法fǎ去qù散sàn步bù。

Rain prevented us from taking a walk.

等děng你nǐ到dào的de时shí候hòu应yīng该gāi已yǐ经jīng散sàn会huì了le。

The meeting will have broken up by the time you arrive there.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

散 sàn · to scatter · 12 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 散.

散步	sànbù	to take a walk; to go for a walk
分散	fēnsàn	to scatter; to disperse
散文	sǎnwén	(broadly) prose (as opposed to verse); (more narrowly) free-form literary prose, such as e
解散	jiěsàn	to dissolve; to disband
疏散	shūsàn	idle; leisurely; laid-back; Taiwan pr. [shu1san4]
扩散	kuòsàn	to spread; to proliferate; to diffuse
散发	sànfā	to distribute; to emit; to give off
散布	sànbù	to disseminate
散开	sànkāi	to separate; to disperse
散播	sànbō	to spread; to disperse
拆散	chāisàn	to break up (a marriage, family etc)
散落	sǎnluò	to lie scattered (over an area); Taiwan pr. [san4 luo4]

Questions about 散

What does 散 mean?

散 (sàn) means "to scatter; to break up (a meeting etc)" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 散?

散 is made of 1 character: 散 (12 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.

Is 散 an HSK word?

Yes. 散 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How do I know whether to read 散 as sàn or sǎn?

Use sàn when it is an action: scatter, disperse, break up, as in 散会 (sànhuì). Use sǎn when it describes a state of being loose or scattered, as in 鞋带散了 (xiédài sǎn le) the shoelace came loose, or in words like 散文 (sǎnwén).

Can 散 mean to fire someone from a job?

Yes, in colloquial speech sàn can mean to sack someone. This sense is informal and less common than the meanings scatter or disperse, so learners mostly need it for recognition.