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散

Cantonese · source Jyutpingsaan2#

Meanings · saan2

  1. (verb) to dispose of; to get rid of; (of medicine) the form of medicines
Cantonese · source Jyutpingsaan2#

Meanings · saan2

  1. slack
  2. undisciplined
  3. scattered
  4. medicinal powder
Cantonese · source Jyutpingsaan3#

Meanings · saan3

  1. to scatter
  2. to break up (a meeting etc)
  3. to disperse
  4. to disseminate
  5. to dispel
  6. (coll.) to sack
  7. to get rid of
About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Tone difference from Unihan

  • 散 is read saan2 here; Unihan’s citation reading is saan3. Same syllable, different tone across these source readings. CC-Canto also lists 散 saan2 as its own entry.

Computed by zimai: each syllable of the CC-Canto word reading is compared with Unihan 17.0.0 kCantonese for its character. The comparison does not say why a reading differs (a changed tone, 變音, a reading tied to one meaning, or a source variant).

Same syllable, six tones

saan删saan1to delete馓saan2散saan3to scatter孱saan4weaklingsaan5—saan6—

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

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Written characters

散

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese entries with 散 ↗

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

  • 散 sǎn CC-CEDICT · Mandarinscattered; loose; to come loose; to fall apart; leisurely; powdered medicine
  • 散 sàn CC-CEDICT · Mandarinto scatter; to break up (a meeting etc); to disperse; to disseminate; to dispel; (coll.) to sack

A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: san4. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 29 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saan2 · saan3

Cantonese word readings for 散. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character

  1. free and unfettered
  2. natural and restrained; at ease
  3. loose; free
  4. to become loose; to break apart; to fall apart
  5. scattered; fragmentary; odd; apart; sporadic; temporary
  6. mixed and disorderly; miscellaneous; random
  7. (literature) free from parallelism
  8. careless; incautious; inattentive
  9. ordinary; useless
  10. (traditional Chinese medicine) medicine in powder form
  11. (Hokkien) to sprinkle; to spread (such as salt, powder, wood, ashes, medicinal powder, sawdust, fuel, etc.)
  12. (Quanzhou and Tong'an Hokkien) to put on the fire (such as wood or fuel)
  13. (Xiamen and Zhangzhou Hokkien) to gobble; to devour; to gorge
  14. (Xiamen and Quanzhou Hokkien) casually; at random; carelessly; haphazardly; randomly; as one pleases; without restraint or goal

character

  1. to break up; to disperse; to scatter
  2. to distribute; to disseminate
  3. to open; to open wide
  4. to dissipate; to distract; to find diversion
  5. to run away; to escape; to flee
  6. to express; to declare; to explain
  7. to end; to finish; to be over
  8. to lose; to miss
  9. to herd; to graze; to walk (animals)
  10. chaotic; helter-skelter
  11. (Hokkien) to induce sweat
  12. (Hokkien) buttoned; fastened with a Chinese button knot or button; buckled; clasped
  13. (Mainland China Hokkien) courageous; fearless
  14. (Xiamen, Quanzhou and Philippine Hokkien) to stroll; to saunter; to go for a walk
  15. (Zhangzhou and Taiwanese Hokkien) poor

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

CC-Canto · Pleco Inc. · edition 2017-02-02
Source lines 9,416, 28,814, 28,815 · Original publisher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edition & transformations

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Mandarin comparison: CC-CEDICT 2026-10-13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source reading differences and six-tone sets: computed by zimai from Unihan 17.0.0 (Unicode License V3).

Exact source records & identity散 散 [san4] {saan2} /(verb) to dispose of; to get rid of; (of medicine) the form of medicines/

SHA-256: 87f75087814fcbd9fdcc0123184002f68b0b9ecf23a8fa80936434e9c0823a4a

散 散 [san4] {saan2} /slack/undisciplined/scattered/medicinal powder/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: 1abeb4dc3332feb6c86118152edd593478ca5d6d14fe89004ac93e599aa61476

散 散 [san4] {saan3} /to scatter/to break up (a meeting etc)/to disperse/to disseminate/to dispel/(coll.) to sack/to get rid of/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: d6348634c915ea81325c7355a5da616f6529f7fa0e05c68baa05e6da1bb0e9d0