rǎn

dye, infect, be contagious

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components
氵 meaning component

  Meaning component

shuishuǐ

  

water

杂 sound component

  Sound component

  

mixed, various

Evolution

染 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
染 Clerical script Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical script

Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
染 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

rǎn

dye; be contagious; infect; to dye; to catch (a disease); to acquire (bad habits etc); to contaminate; to add color washes to a painting

Most common words with 染
Freq.
Word
Meaning

感染

infection

污染

pollution

to dye

传染

to infect

传染病

infectious disease