淡 (dàn): bland; tasteless; light (flavor)

Meanings

1 bland; tasteless; light (flavor)
2 light (color); pale
3 indifferent; lukewarm

Characters

淡

dàn

bland; light; pale

Combines 氵 (water) with 炎 (flame) — water over fire, diluting and weakening the intensity.

Examples

这个汤太淡了，加点盐。

Zhège tāng tài dàn le, jiā diǎn yán.

This soup is too bland, add some salt.

她化了淡妆。

Tā huà le dànzhuāng.

She put on light makeup.

他对这件事很淡然。

Tā duì zhè jiàn shì hěn dànrán.

He is indifferent about this matter.

Tips

usage

淡 is the opposite of 浓. 淡茶 (weak tea) vs 浓茶 (strong tea). 淡色 (light color) vs 深色 (dark color).

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form of 水)

Three-drops water on the left anchors 淡 in the water family. The original sense is 'watered down' — diluted, weak in flavour. From there it spread to pale colours and lukewarm feelings. The radical indexes 淡 with 浓 strong, 清 clear, 泡 steep, 涂 spread thin — all liquid-quality chars.

phonetic

炎 yán

flame (here phonetic)

炎 supplies the sound — yán drifting to dàn, an irregular but well-attested shift. The picture of two fires stacked is the exact opposite of the meaning, sometimes used as a memory hook: water dousing fire = bland and pale. Same phonetic in 谈 chat, 痰 phlegm.