綿

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

• 㒙, 嬵, 𢅧, 𤁗, 檰, 矊, 𬡴, 𥽔, 𦘂, 𧓭, 𨮨, 𬞻

• 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

A compound of 糸 (“silk thread”) + 帛 (“silk texile”) reorganized from 緜 (系 became 糸 and moved to the left).

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。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     缗、绵，施也。秦曰缗，赵曰绵，吴、越之间脱衣相被谓之缗绵。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, 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. [Pinyin]

     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”)

• “綿”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

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

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

• (Tokyo) めん [méꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [mẽ̞ɴ]

綿(めん) • (men) 

1. cotton (both the fiber and the cloth)

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”).

• 木綿(もめん) (momen)

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.

• (both rare) 棉, 草綿

• (Tokyo) わた [wàtáꜜ] (Odaka – [2])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [β̞a̠ta̠]

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

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”)

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}}.