纷

紛
fēn
adjective #24,606

Meanings

  1. 1 numerous
  2. 2 confused

Examples

HSK 5
Yǎnchū jiéshù hòu, guānzhòng fēnfēn gǔzhǎng.
When the show ended, one by one the audience began to applaud.
HSK 6
Liǎng jiā rén wèile qián fāshēng le jiūfēn.
The two families got into a dispute over money.

Tips

memory
纟 (silk) + 分 (divide): silk threads divided into many strands.

Components

radical
纟 sī
silk; thread (radical form of 糸)
Left silk-thread radical (side form of 糸) anchors 纷 in the cord/textile family with 线 thread, 织 weave, 纸 paper. Here it gives the concrete image of tangled threads, many strands jumbled together, the original sense behind 纷乱 disordered, 纷纷 in profusion.
phonetic
分 fēn
to divide; portion
Right 分 supplies the sound, fēn carried over directly. 分 also adds a strong semantic flavour: dividing, scattering, separating. With silk threads it gives "threads scattering in every direction", exactly the disordered crowd of 纷争 dispute, 纷扰 disturbance, 缤纷 colourful and varied.

Stroke Order

纷 fēn