fán
noun #97,996

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) white wormwood (a sagebrush used in sacrifice and as a pot-herb)

Examples

Yú yǐ cǎi fán, yú zhǎo yú zhǐ.
Where do we gather the white wormwood? By the pools and islets.

Tips

history
Not used in modern Chinese; it survives only in the 《诗经》 ode 采蘩 naming a wormwood gathered for ritual. The top is the grass radical and below supplies the sound.
register
Classical only — confined to the Classics and old herbals, never modern speech.

Components

radical
cǎo
grass; plant
The grass radical caps the character and marks as a herb — the white wormwood gathered from marshy ground.
phonetic
fán
numerous; profuse (phonetic)
Below the grass, supplies the fán sound; its sense of 'profuse' suits a plant that grows in abundant clumps, but it contributes no botanical meaning of its own.

Stroke Order

fán