氾濫（はんらん、hanraん）
- flood

The Japanese word 氾濫 (はんらん) primarily means "flood" or "overflow." It describes a situation where something, usually water, exceeds its boundaries and spreads over an area. However, it can also be used metaphorically to describe the excessive spread or abundance of something, like information or trends. The core meaning always involves something spreading widely and uncontrollably.

⚫︎川が氾濫］した。 Translation: The river flooded. ⚫︎情報がインターネットに氾濫］している。 Translation: Information is flooding the internet. ⚫︎デマが社会に氾濫］している。 Translation: False rumors are running rampant in society.

This word is appropriate in both formal and informal contexts. You can use it to describe natural disasters, such as floods, or to describe metaphorical situations where something is overly abundant or uncontrollable. It’s important to understand the context to grasp whether it’s a physical flood or a metaphorical one.

⚫︎The word is typically written with the kanji 氾濫, hiragana はんらん, or less commonly, katakana ハンラン. ⚫︎The okurigana (the hiragana that follows the kanji) is typically らん when used as a noun or the stem of a verb. ⚫︎The verb form is 氾濫する (はんらんする), meaning "to flood" or "to overflow."

⚫︎洪水 (こうずい) - flood ⚫︎溢れる (あふれる) - to overflow ⚫︎浸水 (しんすい) - inundation, flooding ⚫︎蔓延 (まんえん) - prevalence, spread (used more for diseases or abstract things)

⚫︎収束 (しゅうそく) - convergence, stabilization ⚫︎抑制 (よくせい) - suppression, control ⚫︎減少 (げんしょう) - decrease

大雨の影響で、川が氾濫］し、多くの家が浸水しました。 ・Translation: Due to the heavy rain, the river flooded, and many houses were inundated. ・Explanation: This sentence describes a real-world flood caused by heavy rain.

誤った情報がSNSで氾濫］し、人々の間に混乱を引き起こしている。 ・Translation: False information is rampant on social media, causing confusion among people. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 氾濫 metaphorically to describe the widespread of misinformation.

The kanji 氾 means "flood" or "overflow," and the kanji 濫 means "overflow" or "to be excessive." Combining these characters expresses the overall meaning of 氾濫: a state of overflowing or being excessive. The word has ancient origins, reflecting the significance of water and its impact on human life in the history of East Asia.