hàn
noun HSK 7-9 #37,499

Meanings

  1. 1 drought; dry spell
  2. 2 dry; arid

Examples

HSK 4
Hàn jì kuài dào le.
The dry season is approaching.
HSK 6
Jīnnián běifāng zāoyù le yánzhòng de hàn.
The north suffered a severe drought this year.

Components

radical
sun; day
Top sun radical - pictograph of the sun with a stroke through the middle. Anchors the meaning of : a drought is the state of a land baked too long under the sun. Same family: hot weather, to sun-dry, sudden - all built around the imagery of intense sunlight.
phonetic
gān
dry; shield
Bottom supplies the sound - gān shifting to hàn via the well-attested g/h alternation, plus tone change. also doubles as a meaning hint here: itself means 'dry,' so reads as 'sun + dry' - a dry sunbaked land. Same phonetic in sweat, pole.

Stroke Order

hàn