繁 (fán): complicated; manifold

Meanings

1 complicated; manifold
2 numerous; in great numbers
3 to multiply; to breed

Characters

繁

fán

complicated; numerous; to multiply

Examples

公司最近非常繁忙。

Gōngsī zuìjìn fēicháng fánmáng.

The company has been extremely busy lately.

这座城市越来越繁华了。

Zhè zuò chéngshì yuèláiyuè fánhuá le.

This city is growing more and more bustling.

兔子繁殖得很快。

Tùzi fánzhí de hěn kuài.

Rabbits breed very fast.

Tips

memory

The silk graph 糸 sits at the bottom: many tangled threads stand for 'complicated', 'numerous', 'multiplying'.

register

Everyday reading is fán (complicated; numerous; 繁体字 traditional characters). The character has one other reading, pó, used only as a rare surname. In all ordinary vocabulary it is fán.

Components

radical

糸 mì

silk thread (radical)

Bottom silk radical, a pictograph of a hanging skein of twisted silk, the full form (side form 纟). It carries the meaning: 繁 pictured a horse's mane elaborately braided with silk tassels, then generalized to anything tied up and multiplied, hence 繁华 bustling, 繁忙 busy, 繁体字 traditional characters.

phonetic

敏 mǐn

quick; nimble (here phonetic)

Top 敏 supplies the sound, drifting mǐn to fán through a well-attested m/f shift in older Chinese. Faint flavour: 敏 means 'quick, nimble', and 繁 carries the image of activity multiplied, busy hands and abundant doings. The same phonetic appears in 蘩 and 鳘.