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蕃

fān / fán / bō
adjective #44,470

Meanings

  1. 1 foreign (non-Chinese)

Examples

老菜谱里把西红柿写作蕃茄。
Lǎo càipǔ lǐ bǎ xīhóngshì xiě zuò fānqié.
An old recipe uses the spelling 蕃茄 for tomato.
古书把外来的东西叫蕃货。
Gǔshū bǎ wàilái de dōngxi jiào fān huò.
Ancient texts called goods from abroad "foreign goods."

Tips

usage
Read fān, this is an old variant of 番 meaning foreign or non-Chinese. Modern writing almost always uses 番 instead, so you mostly see 蕃 here in older or stylized text.

Components

radical
艹 cǎo
grass; plant
The grass radical on top ties the character to vegetation and growth, fitting its core sense of plants flourishing and proliferating.
phonetic
番 fān
a turn; foreign
Supplies the sound: 番 drives the fán and fān readings, the same phonetic seen in 翻 and 潘.

Stroke Order

蕃 fān