欄

A phono-semantic compound composed of:

木 — semantic component meaning “wood” (indicating something made of wood, like a fence or railing).

闌 — phonetic component indicating the sound (란 / lán).

Originally, it referred to wooden railings or barriers, later extended to mean divisions or sections.

Semantic development:

- wooden railing or fence;

- barrier or partition;

- section, column, or divided space,

The meaning expanded from physical barriers (railings) to abstract divisions, such as columns in text or tables.

난간 (欄干) — railing; balustrade

난간대 (欄干臺) — railing structure

신문란 (新聞欄) — newspaper column

빈칸 (空欄) — blank space; empty field

In modern usage, 欄 is very common in contexts like forms, spreadsheets, and media columns.

Related characters:

闌 — barrier; to block

柵 — fence

隔 — to separate