Meaning of 染
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to dye
- to catch (a disease)
- to acquire (bad habits etc)
- to contaminate
- to add color washes to a painting
How to use 染
染 means to dye, and it also means to pick up something unwanted, like a disease or a bad habit. It shows up often in words like 污染 (wūrǎn, pollution) and 感染 (gǎnrǎn, infection). Example: 她把头发染成了红色。(Tā bǎ tóufa rǎn chéng le hóngsè.) She dyed her hair red.
染 has water 氵 on the left, 九 (jiǔ, nine) on the right, and 木 (mù, wood or tree) underneath. Picture cloth dipped in water nine times with dye made from plants and wood. That soaking in color is the idea of dyeing.
Common mistake: Learners often write 丸 (wán) instead of 九 in the top right, adding an extra dot. 染 has no dot there. Also keep the third tone. Do not confuse rǎn with 然 (rán, second tone) as in 当然.
染 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
染 rǎn · to dye · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 染.
| 污染 | wūrǎn | (lit. and fig.) to pollute; to contaminate |
| 感染 | gǎnrǎn | to infect; infection; (fig.) to influence |
| 传染 | chuánrǎn | to infect; contagious |
| 传染病 | chuánrǎnbìng | infectious disease; contagious disease; communicable disease |
| 感染力 | gǎnrǎnlì | infectiousness (of a disease); appeal; power; impact (of an image, marketing message, perf |
| 染上 | rǎnshàng | to catch (a disease); to get (a bad habit) |
| 有染 | yǒurǎn | to have an affair with sb |
| 感染者 | gǎnrǎnzhě | infected person |
| 染色体 | rǎnsètǐ | chromosome |
| 染色 | rǎnsè | to dye |
| 传染性 | chuánrǎnxìng | infectious; contagious; infectiousness; transmissibility |
| 染病 | rǎnbìng | to catch an illness; to get infected with a disease |
Questions about 染
What does 染 mean?
染 (rǎn) means "to dye; to catch (a disease)" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 染?
染 is made of 1 character: 染 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 染 an HSK word?
Yes. 染 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I say I caught a cold using 染?
Use 染上, as in 我染上了感冒 (wǒ rǎnshàng le gǎnmào), I caught a cold. In everyday speech 我感冒了 is more common. 染上 sounds a bit more formal or written.
Can 染 be used in a positive sense?
Yes. 感染 can mean to move or inspire someone, as in 他的笑声感染了大家 (tā de xiàoshēng gǎnrǎn le dàjiā), his laughter spread to everyone. 感染力 describes the emotional power of a speech, song, or performance.