綿

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

Chinese

Glyph origin

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 糸 + 帛 (“silk”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

綿

1. silk floss

   絲綿／丝绵  ―  sīmián  ―  silk floss

2. to continue; to be continuous

   連綿／连绵  ―  liánmián  ―  continuous

   綿亙／绵亘  ―  miángèn  ―  to stretch in an unbroken chain

3. soft; weak

   綿軟／绵软  ―  miánruǎn  ―  soft

   綿力／绵力  ―  miánlì  ―  (my) meagre effort

4. (dialectal, obsolete) to apply; to cover

   • 緡、緜，施也。秦曰緡，趙曰緜，吴、越之間脱衣相被謂之緡緜。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     缗、绵，施也。秦曰缗，赵曰绵，吴、越之间脱衣相被谓之缗绵。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Yang Xiong, Fangyan, c. 1^st century BCE

     Mín, mián, shī yě. Qín yuē mín, zhào yuē mián, wú, yuè zhījiān tuōyī xiàng bèi wèi zhī mínmián.

     Both mín and mián signify to apply—mín is used in the Qin region, and mián in Zhao. In Wu and Yue, mínmián refers to the act of taking off one's clothes and covering something with it.

5. (obsolete) Alternative form of 棉 (mián, “cotton”)

Compounds

References

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

Japanese

Kanji

(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

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

木綿 (cotton)

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Cotton

Wikipedia

From Middle Chinese 綿／绵 (miɛn, “wool; cotton; soft, downy”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) め​ん (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

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

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

綿

Wikipedia ^ja

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *wata. Cognate with Okinawan 綿 (wata).

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

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) わた​ (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

綿(わた) • (wata) 

1. the cotton plant
2. raw cotton
3. batting or stuffing
4. the albedo of a citrus; or the pith/placenta of a pepper

   Synonym: アルベド (arubedo, “albedo”)

5. (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

References

Korean

Hanja

綿 (eumhun 이어질 면 (ieojil myeon))

1. Hanja form^? of 면 (“cotton wad”).
2. Hanja form^? of 면 (“wool”).
3. Hanja form^? of 면 (“soft, downy”).

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}}.