綿

• Concrete/Material: Soft fiber, wadding, or padding; describes a textural quality that is downy, soft, or fluffy.
• Abstract/Extended: Continuity and extension. This includes temporal persistence (e.g., enduring grief), spatial extension (e.g., winding paths or mountain ranges), and auditory continuity (e.g., an unbroken cry or low hum).

• Noun: Refers to the material substance of padding or fiber.
• Attributive Modifier: Describes either texture (soft, downy) or nature (continuous, unending).
• Reduplicated Form (綿綿): Typically functions adverbially to describe a process unfolding slowly, persistently, and without interruption.

• Readings: Tang-period reading *miɛn.
• Variants: Semantic variant U+7DDC; simplified variant U+7EF5.

In early texts, avoid anachronistically rendering this as "cotton" in the botanical sense (//Gossypium//), which arrived in China relatively late. In older strata of text, the glyph refers more broadly to processed woolly fibers or silk wadding used for insulation (e.g., 綿衣 “padded garments”). Prioritize the function of warmth and the texture of softness over a specific botanical source.