Chinese word

染

Pronunciation

Pinyinrǎn

Meaning

  • verbdye

Example

我想把头发染成蓝色。wǒ xiǎng bǎ tóu fa rǎn chéng lán sè

I want to dye my hair blue.

Illustration for 染 (dye)

More examples

她把旧衣服染成了鲜艳的红色。tā bǎ jiù yī fú rǎn chéng le xiān yàn de hóng sè

She dyed her old clothes a bright red.

Core concept

Color or influence sinks into something and changes the state it shows.

Common phrases

  • 染头发rǎn tóu fa

    dye hair

  • 染成蓝色rǎn chéng lán sè

    dye blue

Similar words

染上rǎn shàng: Take on an illness or bad habit that affects one's behavior or condition.
感染gán rǎn: Develop an illness after a germ or virus enters the body.
传染chuán rǎn: Pass an illness or harmful effect from one person to another.
染色rǎn sè: Give fabric or hair a color with dye.

Definition in Chinese

用液体或颜料使物体吸收颜色而变色；也可表示被某种影响或病菌等作用后发生变化。yòng yè tǐ huò yán liào shǐ wù tǐ xī shōu yán sè ér biàn sè yě kě biǎo shì bèi móu zhǒng yíng xiǎng huò bìng jūn děng zuò yòng hòu fā shēng biàn huà

Word origin

染 (rǎn, "dye") began with soaking material in colored liquid, then extended to being affected by an illness or other influence.

Usage tips

  • The object helps identify the sense: fabric or hair points to a color change, while a habit or illness points to an effect that has spread.

Other meanings

  • take on colorverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word