犯

Mandarin · pinyin fàn

Meanings

  1. to violate
  2. to offend
  3. to assault
  4. criminal
  5. crime
  6. to make a mistake
  7. recurrence (of mistake or sth bad)
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Characters in this entry

犯
fàn · commit crime, violate; criminal
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · fan4

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1character link21same-tone records
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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 · 7 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

faan6

Cantonese word readings for 犯. 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. to infringe on; to attack; to encroach
  2. to commit (crime); to violate
  3. criminal; offender; culprit
  4. to happen; to break out (usually something wrong or bad)
  5. to brave; to face; to withstand
  6. to be worth; to merit; to deserve; to be worthy of
  7. to oppose

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

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