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番

Mandarin · pinyin fān#

(bound form) foreign (non-Chinese); barbarian
classifier for processes or actions that take time and effort
(classifier) a kind; a sort
(classifier) (used after the verb 翻 fān to indicate how many times a quantity doubles, as in 翻一番 fān yī fān "to double")

Mandarin · pinyin Pān#

surname Pan

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番: fān · to take turns; a turn, a time; to repeat

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

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Mandarin tones

1 · fan1

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1character link17same-tone records3source references

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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 · 19 senses · 4 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bo1 · faan1 · po4 · pun1

Cantonese word readings for 番. 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

to do in turns; to take turns; to repeat
Classifier for actions, deeds: a show of ...
Classifier for the number of times an action has been performed: turn; time
Classifier for different kinds of things: kind; type
A generic term for the non-Han people in China's west in historical times; (by extension) non-Han people; foreign land; foreign; non-native; barbarian
(Malaysian Hokkien) Muslim
(ACG) anime series (Classifier: 部)
(mahjong) points

character

a surname
only used in 番禺 (Pānyú)

character

original form of 蹯 (fán, “animal's foot”)
(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 藩 (“fence”)
(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 蕃 (“luxuriant”)

character

(historical) (～縣) Po (former name of 鄱陽 /鄱阳 (Póyáng) (= Poyang): a county under the modern prefecture-level city of Shangrao, Jiangxi, China; used under the Qin dynasty)
used in 番番 (pópó, “white; whitehaired”)
a surname

character

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) used in 番番 (bōbō, “valiant; courageous”)
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 播 (“to spread; to propagate”)

character

(Hakka, dialectal Cantonese) Classifier for quilts.

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

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