(màn): creeper, to spread

(màn) is a Chinese character meaning “creeper.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #2652 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, a long 曼 plant 艹 ; 曼 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form (grass) appears in many related characters such as (huā, flower), (chá, tea), (cài, vegetable, dish).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. creeper
  2. to spread

Etymology & Origin

ideographicA long 曼 plant 艹 ; 曼 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿱艹曼 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
màn yánto extend
téng mànvine
màn yán quán guóto spread throughout the entire country
màn shēng zhí wùcreeper
màn shēngtrailing plant
huāng yān màn cǎolit. abandoned by men and choked with weeds
màn yuè méicranberry
màn cǎocreeper
màn yuè júcranberry
zhī mànbranches and tendrils
zī mànto grow and spread
mán jingturnip
12
Total compounds
67
As first character
25
As last character
8
As middle character

appears in 12 compound words: 67 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 8 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

0.88213 co-occurrences
kǎn
0.87813 co-occurrences
chóng
0.81413 co-occurrences
yán
0.67032,097 co-occurrences
fáng
0.64714 co-occurrences
hài
0.61413 co-occurrences
lóng
0.5311,668 co-occurrences
xùn
0.5032,748 co-occurrences
wēn
0.468384 co-occurrences
zhèng
0.46113 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

huāng yān màn cǎoHSK 7+

lit. abandoned by men and choked with weeds; desolate (idiom)

phrase
màn shēng zhí wùHSK 7+

creeper; climbing plant; twiner

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个字的意思与它的部首有关。

zhè gě mán zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .

The meaning of the character "蔓" is related to its radical.

SmzdmMar 2026

2026去油去屑洗发水测评 儒健发去屑止痒洗发水实测领先

2 0 2 6 qù yóu qù xiè xǐ fā shuǐ cè píng rú màn jiàn fā qù xiè zhǐ yǎng xǐ fā shuǐ shí cè lǐng xiān

The Beijing NewsMar 2026

...季风大火灾风险高,祭祀飞火引燃杂草可迅速

. . . jì fēng dà huǒ zāi fēng xiǎn gāo , jì sì fēi huǒ yǐn rán zá cǎo kě xùn sù màn yán

...The risk of major wildfires is high during the monsoon season; sparks from ritual fires can ignite dry grass, causing the fire to spread rapidly.

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

阿里山高峰饭店深夜起火 火势猛烈一度延文山宾馆

ā lǐ shān gāo fēng fàn diàn shēn yè qǐ huǒ huǒ shì měng liè yī dù màn yán wén shān bīn guǎn

A fire broke out late at night at the Alishan Summit Hotel; the blaze was intense and briefly spread to the Wenshan Hotel

DigitimesMar 2026

美伊战争效应延 崇越:上游先反应、原物料涨势难避免

měi yī zhàn zhēng xiào yīng màn yán chóng yuè : shàng yóu xiān fǎn yīng , yuán wù liào zhǎng shì nán bì miǎn

Ripple Effects of the U.S.-Iran War Spread: Chong Yue Says Upstream Sectors React First, Raw Material Price Hikes Inevitable

Tatoeba

火势以扇形迅速延。

Huǒshì yǐ shànxíng xùnsùmànyán.

The fire spread out in a fan-shape.

Tatoeba

这些措施可以预防疾病延。

Zhèxiē cuòshī kěyǐ yùfáng jíbìng mànyán.

These measures can prevent the disease from spreading.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced màn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 蔓 (màn) mean in Chinese?
蔓 (màn) primarily means "creeper." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2652 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 蔓 have?
蔓 is written with 14 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 蔓?
The radical associated with 蔓 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are the components of 蔓?
蔓 is composed of: 艹 (structural), 曼 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艹曼 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 蔓?
Common words with 蔓 include: 蔓延 (màn yán, "to extend"); 藤蔓 (téng màn, "vine"); 蔓延全国 (màn yán quán guó, "to spread throughout the entire country"); 蔓生植物 (màn shēng zhí wù, "creeper"); 蔓生 (màn shēng, "trailing plant"). There are over 12 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 蔓 (màn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation màn: 蛮 (barbarian), 馒 (steamed bun), 瞒 (to conceal), 满 (Manchu ethnic group), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 蔓 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 蔓 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.