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淡

Mandarin · pinyin dàn

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淡: dàn · weak, watery; insipid, tasteless

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · dan4

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1character link42same-tone records1source reference

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 10 senses · 4 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

daam6 · jim5 · taam4 · taam5

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

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

character · Etymology 1

(of food) bland; tasteless
(of color) light; pale
(of liquid or gas) thin; low in density
indifferent; cold
slack; dull
meaningless; trivial

character · Etymology 2

only used in 淡淡 (yǎnyǎn, yànyàn)
(historical dictionaries only) appearance of water

character · Etymology 3

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 痰 (tán)
(historical dictionaries only) appearance of water

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

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