潘 (pān) - Pan — a common Chinese surname & refers to swirling water or overflowing

潘Tone 1

pān ｜ 15 strokes ｜ radical:

柠七

潘 · pān

Pan — a common Chinese surname;

refers to swirling water or overflowing;

also used in the name of the Pan River.

Pan — a common Chinese surnamerefers to swirling water or overflowingalso used in the name of the Pan

Usage highlights

Pan surnamePan RiverPan familyPan YuePan JinlianPan's labyrinth

Synonyms

  • 盘— Pan (another surname with similar pronunciation)
  • 泮— waterside; half (similar water-related character)

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • My friend's surname is Pan (潘).
  • The water was swirling in the pan (潘).
  • Pan River (潘江) is a geographical name.
  • He is a descendant of the Pan family (潘氏家族).

Collocations

  • Pan surname(潘姓)
  • Pan River(潘江)
  • Pan family(潘氏)
  • Pan Yue(潘岳 - a famous Jin dynasty writer)
  • Pan Jinlian(潘金莲 - a character from Water Margin)
  • Pan's labyrinth(潘神的迷宫)

Idioms

  • Vast as the Pan and Lu rivers(陆海潘江)
  • Pan's talent and Jiang's learning(潘江陆海)
  • Pan's beard(潘鬓)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • One of the common Chinese surnames, ranking around 40th in population.
  • Historically associated with the Pan River and the ancient state of Pan during the Zhou dynasty.
  • The character originally depicted water swirling or overflowing, later adopted as a surname.

FAQ