潘

Tap the pinyin to hear it

(archaic) water in which rice has been washed; (Tw) kitchen waste; food scraps (from Taiwanese, Tai-lo pr. [phun])

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

氵 meaning “water” + 番 sound ( fān )

Components 氵番

Pan · Heisig RSH #3002

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
潘太克斯	Pān tài kè sī	Pentax (brand name)
德维尔潘	Dé wéi ěr pān	(Dominique) de Villepin (French name)
圣潘克勒斯站	Shèng pān kè lēi sī Zhàn	Saint Pancras (London railway station)
潘塔纳尔	Pān tǎ nà ěr	Pantanal (wetland area in Brazil)
潘多拉	Pān duō lā	Pandora
潘基文	Pān Jī wén	Ban Ki Moon (1944-), Korean diplomat, UN secretary-general 2007-2016
潘集区	Pān jí Qū	Panji, a district of Huainan City 淮南市[Huai2 nan2 Shi4], Anhui
松潘县	Sōng pān Xiàn	Songpan, a county in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture 阿壩藏族羌族自治州\|阿坝藏族羌族自治州[A1 …
贝尔莫潘	Bèi ěr mò pān	Belmopan, capital of Belize
潘多拉魔盒	pān duō lā mó hé	a Pandora's box
潘斯	Pān sī	(surname) Pence
潘安	Pān Ān	see 潘岳[Pan1 Yue4]
潘通	Pān tōng	Pantone color system
貌若潘安	mào ruò Pān Ān	to have the looks of a Pan An 潘安[Pan1 An1] (referring to a historical figure said to be ex…
斯捷潘	Sī jié pān	Stepan or Stefan (name)
潘金莲	Pān Jīn lián	Pan Jinlian (name lit. Golden Lotus), heroine of Ming dynasty vernacular novel Jinpingmei …
潘集	Pān jí	see 潘集區\|潘集区[Pan1 ji2 Qu1]
潘趣酒	pān qù jiǔ	(loanword) punch (drink)
松潘	Sōng pān	see 松潘縣\|松潘县[Song1 pan1 Xian4]
彼得潘	Bǐ dé Pān	Peter Pan, the novel character

Characters sharing the sound component 番 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
番 sound part	fān	to take turns, to repeat; to sow; a turn
翻	fān	to upset, to capsize, to flip over
蟠	pán	to occupy; to coil; curled up, coiled
蕃	bō	abundant, flourishing; barbarians, foreigners
幡	fān	pennant, banner, streamer, flag
鄱	pó	a county and lake in Jiangxi province
皤	pó	white, grey; corpulent
蹯	fán	paw