耽 (dān): to indulge in

Meanings

1 to indulge in
2 to delay
3 to be addicted to

Characters

耽

dān

to indulge / to delay

Examples

他耽于享乐，荒废了学业。

Tā dān yú xiǎnglè, huāngfèi le xuéyè.

He indulged in pleasure and neglected his studies.

别耽误时间了，快点出发吧。

Bié dānwu shíjiān le, kuài diǎn chūfā ba.

Stop wasting time — let's get going.

Tips

usage

耽 most commonly appears in two compounds: 耽误 (dānwu — to delay / to hold up) and 耽于 (dān yú — to indulge in). As a standalone classical character it means to indulge or be addicted.

Components

radical

耳 ěr

ear

Left ear radical — pictograph of a human ear with lobe. The indexing radical, putting 耽 in the hearing/listening family with 聪, 聋, 聊. The original meaning was "large drooping ears," from which came the metaphor "absorbed, indulgent" — distracted by what one hears.

phonetic

冘 yín

hesitate; walk slowly (rare)

Right 冘 supplies the sound — yín drifting to dān, with the same phonetic family found in 沉 sink, 枕 pillow, 鸩 poison-bird. 冘 also adds a faint semantic flavour: hanging down, settling heavily — fitting 耽 in compounds like 耽误 to delay, 耽搁 hold up.