Several parts combine into one character.

Phonetic-semantic compound: 日 (sun) + 免 (release / free oneself, providing phonetic value). The encoded image: the sun "releasing itself" from its high noon position — descending toward the horizon. Three forms: 繁體 晚 / 新字体 晩 / 简体 晚 (the simplified and traditional kept the same form; Japanese shinjitai slightly modified the right side). Pairs perfectly with 早 (early / morning) as opposites.

Mandarin: wǎn, dipping 3rd tone (simplified 晚). 晚 (wǎn, late / evening), 晚上 (wǎnshang, evening / night — "the late time"), 晚饭 (wǎnfàn, dinner — "late meal"), 晚安 (wǎn'ān, good night — "evening peace"), 太晚 (tài wǎn, too late), 早晚 (zǎowǎn, sooner or later). 晚安 is the standard Chinese "good night" greeting — saved alongside 早 (zǎo) for "good morning".

Japanese: on-reading バン (ban) for compounds — 晩餐 (bansan, formal dinner), 今晩 (konban, this evening / tonight), 毎晩 (maiban, every evening), 晩年 (bannen, later years of life). 今晩は (Konbanwa) — "good evening" — is one of the foundational Japanese greetings every learner masters: 朝 → おはよう (morning), 昼 → こんにちは (daytime), 晩 → こんばんは (evening). The greeting structure follows the time-of-day kanji exactly.

No widely used kun-reading exists; 晩 is dominantly an on-reading character.

The compound 晩学 (bangaku, "late learning") describes someone who pursues education later in life — used encouragingly in modern Japan to praise career changers and elderly students.

Memory aid: sun + release = the time when the sun lets go of the day.