衍 (yǎn): to spread out, to develop, to overflow
衍 (yǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “to spread out.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 行 (structural) and 氵 (structural). It ranks #2358 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 衍 water 氵 going in all directions 行. Its radical form 行 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 行 (xíng, to walk), 街 (jiē, street), 衡 (héng, to weigh).
Definitions
- to spread out
- to develop
- to overflow
Etymology & Origin
ideographicWater 氵 going in all directions 行
Decomposition: ⿻行氵 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 衍 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 敷衍verb | fū yǎn | to elaborate (on a theme) |
| 繁衍verb | fán yǎn | to multiply |
| 衍生verb | yǎn shēng | to give rise to |
| 敷衍了事phrase | fū yǎn liǎo shì | (idiom) to do things half-heartedly |
| 衍生物noun | yǎn shēng wù | derivative |
| 衍变verb | yǎn biàn | to develop |
| 衍射verb | yǎn shè | (physics) to diffract |
| 罗摩衍那proper-noun | luó mó yǎn nà | the Ramayana (Indian epic) |
| 敷衍塞责phrase | fū yǎn sè zé | (idiom) to skimp on the job |
| 衍生工具noun | yǎn shēng gōng jù | derivative (finance) |
| 衍生产品noun | yǎn shēng chǎn pǐn | derivative product |
| 金融衍生产品 | jīn róng yǎn shēng chǎn pǐn | financial derivative |
| 信贷衍生产品 | xìn dài yǎn shēng chǎn pǐn | credit derivative (in finance) |
| 衍射格子 | yǎn shè gé zi | diffraction grating (physics) |
| 衍声复词 | yǎn shēng fù cí | compound word, such as 玫瑰 or 咖啡, whose meaning is unrelated to the individual characters (Note: ... |
衍 appears in 28 compound words: 50 as the first character, 32 as the last, and 18 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 衍 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
to work halfheartedly; to go through the motions; to perform one's duty in a perfunctory manner
to work halfheartedly; to go through the motions; to perform one's duty in a perfunctory manner
Showing 5 of 6 idioms containing 衍.
Example Sentences
老师教我们衍字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men yǎn zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "衍."
传美国将调整钢铝关税!衍生成品拟课25% 最快本周公告
chuán měi guó jiāng diào zhěng gāng lǚ guān shuì ! yǎn shēng chéng pǐn nǐ kè 2 5 zuì kuài běn zhōu gōng gào
Reports suggest the U.S. will adjust tariffs on steel and aluminum! A 25% tariff is proposed for derived products, with an announcement expected as early as this week.
正论:敷衍卸责要不得 连串疏忽铸大祸
zhèng lùn : fū yǎn xiè zé yāo bù dé lián chuàn shū hū zhù dà huò
Editorial: Half-hearted Efforts and Shifting Blame Are Unacceptable; A Series of Oversights Leads to a Major Disaster
台湾拾荒老兵赵衍庆91岁病逝 持台积电股票 遗产将纳入荣...
tái wān shè huāng lǎo bīng zhào yǎn qìng 9 1 suì bìng shì chí tái jī diàn gǔ piào yí chǎn jiāng nà rù róng . . .
Zhao Yanqing, a 91-year-old Taiwanese veteran who scavenged for a living, has passed away. He held shares in TSMC, and his estate will be included in the...
非洲猪瘟防线破功原因曝光!厨余蒸煮超敷衍...疫情爆发继续送屠宰场
fēi zhōu zhū wēn fáng xiàn pò gōng yuán yīn pù guāng ! chú yú zhēng zhǔ chāo fū yǎn . . . yì qíng bào fā jì xù sòng tú zǎi chǎng
The reason for the failure of the African swine fever defense line is exposed! Cooking of kitchen waste is super perfunctory... The outbreak continues to be sent to the slaughterhouse
...:部份演唱会内地观众占六成 带动周边行业衍生商机
. . . : bù fèn yǎn chàng huì nèi dì guàn zhòng zhàn liù chéng dài dòng zhōu biān háng yè yǎn shēng shāng jī
...: Some concerts account for 60% of mainland audiences, driving derivative business opportunities in surrounding industries
这个字是希腊语衍生出来的。
Zhège zì shì Xīlàyǔ yǎnshēng chūlái de.
This word is derived from Greek.
Character Family
行 Radical Family — Characters sharing the walk radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 衍 (yǎn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 衍 have?
What is the radical of 衍?
What are the components of 衍?
What are common words containing 衍?
What characters sound the same as 衍 (yǎn)?
Is 衍 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 衍 with real-time feedback
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