散

2 readings · tap one to hear it

to scatter; to break up (a meeting etc); to disperse; to disseminate; to dispel; (coll.) to sack

Sound it out + = · + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

A hand 攵 tossing seeds from a basket

Components ⺼攵 ? unknown part

scattered · Heisig RSH #974

salad + flesh + taskmaster

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
不见不散	bù jiàn bù sàn	lit. Even if we don't see each other, don't give up and leave (idiom); fig. Be sure to wai…
分散式	fēn sàn shì	distributed
云散风流	yún sàn fēng liú	lit. clouds scatter, wind flows (idiom); the crisis settles down; people disperse home; th…
风流云散	fēng liú yún sàn	lit. dispersed by wind and scattered like clouds (idiom); fig. scattered far and wide (of …
散水	sàn shuǐ	apron (sloping brickwork to disperse water)
散学	sàn xué	end of school
散心	sàn xīn	to drive away cares; to relieve boredom
离散数学	lí sàn shù xué	discrete mathematics
散白	sǎn bái	bulk baijiu (i.e. clear Chinese liquor) (abbr. for 散裝白酒\|散装白酒[san3 zhuang1 bai2 jiu3])
散会	sàn huì	to disperse a meeting; to adjourn; finished
散热器	sàn rè qì	radiator (for heating a room); radiator (for cooling an engine)
一盘散沙	yī pán sǎn shā	lit. like a sheet of loose sand; fig. unable to cooperate (idiom)
分散	fēn sàn	to scatter; to disperse; to distribute
散体	sǎn tǐ	free prose style
散发	sàn fā	to distribute; to emit; to give off
发散	fā sàn	to disperse; to diverge
集散地	jí sàn dì	distribution center
散文	sǎn wén	(broadly) prose (as opposed to verse); (more narrowly) free-form literary prose, such as e…
散出	sàn chū	to spill out
散开	sàn kāi	to separate; to disperse

These characters use 散 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
散 sound part	sàn	to scatter, to disperse, to break up
霰	xiàn	hail, sleet
馓	sǎn	fried round cakes of wheat flour