染
rǎn
to dye
to catch (a disease); to acquire (bad habits etc); to contaminate; to add color washes to a painting
Water (氿) + wood (木) = soaking in color or contamination
Wood soaked in water takes on color — that spreading, seeping quality is exactly what dyeing, infection, and bad habits share. The character captures how something external works its way in and changes what it touches.
她把头发染成了红色。
tā bǎ tóu fa rǎn chéng le hóng sè。
She dyed her hair red.
他去了一次，就染上了赌博的坏习惯。
tā qù le yī cì，jiù rǎn shàng le dǔ bó de huài xí guàn。
He went once and acquired the bad habit of gambling.
Words with 染
有染
yǒu rǎn
to have an affair with sb
染料
rǎn liào
dye
感染率
gǎn rǎn lǜ
rate of infection (usu. of a disease)
病毒感染
bìng dú gǎn rǎn
viral infection
染色体
rǎn sè tǐ
chromosome
渲染
xuàn rǎn
rendering (computing)
革兰氏染色法
gé lán shì rǎn sè fǎ
Gram stain (used to distinguished two different kinds of bacteria)
除沾染
chú zhān rǎn
decontamination
飞沫传染
fēi mò chuán rǎn
droplet infection (disease transmission from sneezing, coughing etc)
点染
diǎn rǎn
to touch up (a piece of writing)
一尘不染
yī chén bù rǎn
(idiom) untainted by even a speck of dust; spotlessly clean; (of a person) honest; incorruptible
上呼吸道感染
shàng hū xī dào gǎn rǎn
upper respiratory tract infection