殷 (yān) — (bound form) dark red, crimson
Definition
殷 (yān) is a bound (literary) form meaning 'dark red / crimson' — always paired with 红, as in 殷红. You will only see it in this fixed combination; it never stands alone.
bound form
dark redcrimson
Easily confused
- 烟yānsound-alikecigarette or pipe tobacco
- 淹yānsound-aliketo flood; to submerge
- 阉yānsound-aliketo castrate; to neuter (an animal)
- 燕yānsound-alike(bound form) Yan, an ancient state; also used in place names such as Yanjing and Yanshan
- 菸yānsound-alike(bound form) tobacco; cigarette (variant of 烟)
- 焉yānsound-alike(literary interrogative pronoun) where; how
Examples
- 殷。Qiū tiān de fēng yè biàn chéng le yān hóng sè.The autumn maple leaves turned a dark red color.
- 殷。Tā de zuǐ chún tú le yān hóng de chún gāo.She applied a dark red lipstick to her lips.
- 殷。Xī yáng bǎ tiān kōng rǎn chéng yān hóng sè.The setting sun dyed the sky a dark red.
Origin
Compound ideograph六书liùshū
会意huìyìTwo or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.
In 殷, 㐆 shows a swollen-bellied person, and 又 and 矢 show a hand aiming an arrow-like object at the belly, giving painful earnestness; a mallet variant was linked to deep red.
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