Chinese symbol for “overflow”
泛滥
fàn làn
Traditional: 氾濫
to overflow; to inundate; to flood; (fig.) to proliferate unchecked
The closest CC-CEDICT match for overflow is 泛滥 (fàn làn), defined as: to overflow; to inundate; to flood; (fig.) to proliferate unchecked.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “overflow”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 溢出 | yì chū | to overflow; to spill over; (computing) overflow |
| 横流 (橫流) | héng liú | to overflow; transverse flow |
| 溢 | yì | to overflow; (literary) excessive |
| 漾 | yàng | to overflow; to ripple |
| 涔 | cén | overflow; rainwater |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 泛滥.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 广泛 (廣泛) | guǎng fàn | wide; broad; extensive; widespread |
| 泛指 | fàn zhǐ | to make a general reference; to be used in a general sense |
| 宽泛 (寬泛) | kuān fàn | wide-ranging |
| 泛舟 | fàn zhōu | to go boating |
| 滥用 (濫用) | làn yòng | to misuse; to abuse |
| 滥用职权 (濫用職權) | làn yòng zhí quán | abuse of power |
| 滥杀无辜 (濫殺無辜) | làn shā wú gū | willfully slaughter the innocent (idiom) |
| 滥权 (濫權) | làn quán | to abuse one's authority; to misuse power |
See also: Japanese symbol for “overflow”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.