繁衍

Mandarin · pinyin fán yǎn

Meanings

  1. to multiply
  2. to reproduce
  3. to increase gradually in number or quantity
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Characters in this entry

繁
fán · complicated, complex, difficult
衍
yǎn · overflow, spill over, spread out
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–3 · fan2 yan3

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

faan4 hin2 · faan4 jin2 · faan4 jin5

Cantonese word readings for 繁衍. 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.

verb

  1. to multiply; to proliferate; to reproduce; to breed

adj

  1. (literary) flourishing and abundant

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

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