Expressions 治ち 乱らん peace and war; order and chaos 乱らん を 起お こす rise in rebellion; start an uprising 治ち に 居い て 乱らん を 忘わす れず forewarned is forearmed; in fair weather prepare for foul; don't forget war in time of peace Related words 反乱 is the everyday word for an armed rebellion, while 乱 alone sounds more formal or literary and is usually used in compounds or as a naming suffix like 応仁の乱 .
内乱 specifically means a civil war fought within one country, whereas 乱 can refer to any kind of revolt or war, domestic or otherwise.
戦乱 emphasizes the chaos and fighting of warfare in general, while 乱 more narrowly points to a specific uprising or revolt.
動乱 describes widespread social or political turmoil and unrest, while 乱 is the plainer term often used to name a single historical revolt.
騒乱 refers to a riot or disturbance, usually smaller in scale than the armed conflicts that 乱 can denote.
Opposites 乱 refers to disorder or rebellion, while 治 refers to peaceful, orderly rule, making them opposites in the classical phrase 治乱 (peace and chaos).
Don't confuse with 乱 (revolt, war) and 蘭 (orchid) are pronounced identically as らん but are completely unrelated in meaning and written with different kanji.
欄 (a column, field, or railing) and 乱 (disorder, chaos) are pure homophones read らん with completely unrelated meanings.
Word family· 101 disorder; chaos; confusion; mayhem
rebellion; revolt; insurrection; mutiny; uprising
lewd; lascivious; debauched
violence; assault; rowdiness · rough; reckless; rude; unreasonable · rape; sexual assault
abuse; misuse; overuse
Show 25 more Show fewer brawl; melee; free-for-all
intrusion; bursting in; barging in
confusion; mental derangement; distraction
boisterous dance; wild dancing
random walk
dispersion; scattering; being scattered about
random number
indiscriminate shooting; random shooting; firing blindly
standing in disorderly clusters; jumbled together · flood of candidates; too many people running for office
overfishing; overhunting; indiscriminate taking
random firing; reckless shooting · excessive issuance; overissue
civil war; insurrection; rebellion; domestic conflict
warfare; turmoil of war
fury; frenzy; madness; wildness
disturbance; riot; mayhem
great rebellion; large-scale uprising
troubled times; turbulent era
astigmatism
disorder; mess; clutter
disturbance; disruption; confusion
disturbance; upheaval; unrest; riot; war
in profusion; riotously blooming
mental derangement; madness; insanity
violent fluctuation; wild swings
wholeheartedly; single-mindedly; with intense concentration
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Etymology The kanji 乱 means 'disorder' or 'revolt'. As a standalone noun, it is used in historical or formal contexts to refer to uprisings and wars. The reading らん is the on'yomi.
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