水
contributes the sense of water · Kangxi radical 85
contributes the sense of water, flowing liquid, and things done with liquids
The old graph for 水 showed a stream running down the middle with droplets or side currents splashing off to left and right, much like 川 but broken up instead of drawn as three solid lines. In today's 水 the central stream survives as the vertical hook stroke, and the scattered droplets have hardened into the short stroke on the left and the two strokes sweeping out to the right. You can still see that shape whole in 泉 (water welling up from a source), doubled and tripled in 淼 for a flood, and squeezed under other parts in 汆, 泵 and 浆, where it marks something plunged into, pumped as, or thickened from liquid.
水 at a glance
- Meaning
- contributes the sense of water
- Strokes
- 4
- Characters
- 22
- Role
- Contributes meaning
- Kangxi radical
- 85
Characters with 水 (18 of 22)
HSK 3 · 1
HSK 4 · 1
HSK 6 · 1
Beyond HSK · 13
Frequently asked questions
What does the component 水 mean?
水 means "contributes the sense of water". In the characters that contain it, it contributes meaning.
How many Chinese characters contain 水?
22 characters in this dictionary contain 水, including ones at HSK 3, HSK 4, HSK 5, HSK 6.
Is 水 a radical?
Yes — 水 is Kangxi radical 85, one of the 214 traditional indexing radicals used to organise Chinese dictionaries.
How many strokes does 水 have?
水 is written in 4 strokes.