綿

See also: 绵

Translingual

Han character

綿 (Kangxi radical 120, 糸+8, 14 strokes, cangjie input 女火竹日月 (VFHAB), four-corner 2692₇, composition ⿰糹帛)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 928, character 17
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 27592
• Dae Jaweon: page 1366, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3416, character 2
• Unihan data for U+7DBF

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Chinese

trad.		綿
simp.		绵
alternative forms		緜／绵

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (綿) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
綿	*men
棉	*men
緜	*men
矊	*men

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): mián (mian²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): min⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mièn
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): mî / biân

  (Teochew, Peng'im): miang⁵ / miêng⁵ / min⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mián
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mián
    • Wade–Giles: mien²
    • Yale: myán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mian
    • Palladius: мянь (mjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi̯ɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: min⁴
    • Yale: mìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: min⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: min⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miːn²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mièn
    • Hakka Romanization System: mienˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: mian²
    • Sinological IPA: /mi̯en¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: mî / biân
    • Tâi-lô: mî / biân
    • Phofsit Daibuun: mii, bieen
    • IPA (Xiamen): /mĩ²⁴/, /biɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /mĩ²⁴/, /biɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /mĩ¹³/, /biɛn¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /mĩ²⁴/, /biɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /mĩ²³/, /biɛn²³/

Note:

• mî - vernacular;
• biân - literary.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: miang⁵ / miêng⁵ / min⁵
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: miâng / miêng / mîⁿ
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miaŋ⁵⁵/, /mieŋ⁵⁵/, /mĩ⁵⁵/

Note:

• miang5/miêng5 - literary (miêng5 - Chaozhou);
• min5 - vernacular.

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• Middle Chinese: mjien

Rime
Character	綿
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	仙 (77)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	武延切
Baxter	mjien
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/miᴇn/
Pan Wuyun	/miɛn/
Shao Rongfen	/mjæn/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/mian/
Li Rong	/miɛn/
Wang Li	/mĭɛn/
Bernard Karlgren	/mi̯ɛn/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	mián
Expected Cantonese Reflex	min4

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*men/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	綿
Reading #	1/1
No.	9048
Phonetic component	綿
Rime group	元
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	緜
Old Chinese	/*men/
Notes	同緜

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 綿

1. soft, downy
2. ^† (deprecated template usage) Alternative form of 棉 (mián, “cotton”).

References

• “Entry #10784”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

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Japanese

Kanji

綿

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: めん (men, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: べん (ben)
• Kun: わた (wata, 綿, Jōyō)
• Nanori: う (u)

Etymology 1

綿 (men, wata): raw cotton on the bush.

Kanji in this term
綿
めん Grade: 5
on’yomi

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Chinese 綿／绵 (miɛn, “wool; cotton; soft, downy”).

Noun

綿(めん) • (men) 

1. cotton (both the fiber and the cloth)

Usage notes

As a standalone noun, the term 木綿 (momen, “cotton”, literally “tree or bush + woolly batting”) is used more often. This is especially true in speech, to avoid ambiguity with the various homophones, such as 面 (men, “face”) or 麺 (men, “noodle”).

Synonyms

• 木綿(もめん) (momen)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
綿
わた Grade: 5
kun’yomi

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Japanese. Originally referred to any batting or stuffing, which was generally unspun silk. The meaning shifted after the spread of cotton in the Muromachi period.

Alternative forms

• (both rare) 棉, 草綿

Noun

綿(わた) • (wata) 

1. the cotton plant
2. raw cotton
3. batting or stuffing
4. (figurative) the state of being exhausted or extremely tired (likely from the hard work required to pick cotton)

   綿(わた)のように疲(つか)れた

   wata no yō ni tsukareta

   to be as tired as cotton → to be exhausted

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 真(ま)綿(わた) (mawata): silk batting; silk floss
• 綿(わた)菓子(がし) (watagashi): cotton candy, candy floss

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Korean

Hanja

綿 (eum 면 (myeon))

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

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Vietnamese

Han character

綿: Hán Nôm readings: miên, men, mền, mên, min

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.