衍

衍 · yǎn

overflow, spill over, spread out

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

overflow, spill over, spread out

Mandarin
yǎn
Cantonese
jin2

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 衍 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

エン

Kun’yomi · hiragana

あまりはびこる

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

エン あまり はびこる

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

연

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
연
KS X 1001 (0) · Personal-name Hanja (N)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

연:0N

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+884D
Radical
行 · 144
Strokes
9 · Unihan
Residual
3

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

9 strokes
衍
Strokes
9
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

9 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿲彳氵亍(GHTJKPV)
⿰彳𣲇(X)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 衍

Character connections

1 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

Follow this component

Reverse links to attributed component analyses. Open each character for its role, source and words. Shared components do not establish word ancestry.

History & distinctions

Related forms

No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
yenX · 以淺 反切 · #1620
Middle Chinese
yenH · 于線? 反切 · #2748

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 10792 · yenX = 山開三上仙以 · yenH = 山開三去仙以

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
yǎn
kCantonese
jin2
kDefinition
overflow, spill over, spread out
kTotalStrokes
9
kRSUnicode
144.3
kTGH
2013:1582

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
yǎn,yán 20820.040
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 衍 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
29dictionary records using 衍1forms using this shape1attributed sound links
⿲ Three columns

Shape description
彳 beside 氵 beside 亍 · the same shape in all seven regional standards (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam)
Source notation ^⿲彳氵亍$(GHTJKPV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 29 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿲彳氵亍$(GHTJKPV)

^⿰彳𣲇$(X)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.