Chinese character 蟠

It means something coiled or winding around something.

The second-century CE Chinese dictionary 《说文解字》 defines 蟠 first as a woodlouse, a small land crustacean, and also records “coiling” as a borrowed use: an existing character used to write another word. Later dictionaries preserve a sense of “extending throughout.”

Why does 蟠 appear in these compounds?

蟠 contributes the idea of coiling.

In 蟠桃, 蟠 names a flat peach in food talk and the peach of immortality in mythic storytelling. 蟠龙 means a coiled dragon. Museums document 蟠螭纹 (“coiled dragon-like creature pattern”) and 蟠虺纹 (“small-snake pattern”) on bronzes from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, two eras in ancient Chinese history. In each compound, 蟠 supplies the winding idea; the remaining characters specify the creature, fruit, or pattern.

how to type 蟠

Use a Chinese pinyin input method and select 蟠 from its candidates.

Pinyin enters Chinese readings with roman letters: type pan and choose 蟠 from the candidate list. In the Cangjie input method, enter LIHDW. The glyph is included by default in Windows 10 and later.