Taxonomy of meanings for 泛 / 汎:
- 泛 fàn (OC: phoms MC: pʰiɐm) 孚梵切 去 廣韻：【同汎 】
- 泛 fá (OC: bob MC: biɐp) 房法切 入 廣韻：【水聲又孚梵切 】
Additional information about 泛
說文解字:
- Criteria
- FLOAT
1. The general word for floating of any kind, also of clouds in the air, is fú 浮 (ant. chén 沉 ).
2. Piāo 漂 refers to floating in the air.
3. Fàn 泛, fàn 氾, and fàn 汎 seem to be dialect variants of a word for drifting on water, typically aimlessly. (It is to be noted that the three words, though close in pronunciation, are by no means homophonous in ancient pronunciation. One should think they must be etymologically related.)