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荏苒

Mandarin · pinyin rěn rǎn

(literary) (of time) to slip away

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荏: rěn · beans; soft, pliable; herb
苒: rǎn · lush; successively, in order

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3 · ren3 ran3

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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 · 5 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jam5 jim5

Cantonese word readings for 荏苒. 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

(literary, of time) to pass gradually; to elapse; to slip by quickly or imperceptibly
(literary) to waste (time); to play for time
(literary) to pass through many places; to move about

adj

(literary, ideophonic, of worry, sadness, etc.) incessant; never-ending; continual
(literary, ideophonic) alternative form of 荏染 (“weak; delicate”)

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

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