艳 (yàn) is a bound morpheme (b.f.) — it cannot stand alone as a word but appears as a meaningful component in common compounds. Its two main semantic branches are: (1) bright, vivid, or gorgeous in color (as in 鲜艳 'bright-colored' or 艳丽 'gorgeous'), and (2) romantic, amorous (as in 艳遇 'romantic encounter' or 艳史 'love story'). A less common literary sense expresses admiration or envy (艳羡).