污

汙/汚

wū

亏 + 氵

Definitions

wū (adjective) dirty; filthy; foul

wū (adjective) corrupt

wū (verb) to smear; to defile

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 亏 (于) represents the sound.

Semantic: 氵 Phonetic: 亏

About

污 is a phono-semantic compound: the left component 氵 (water) provides the meaning, while the right component 亏 (a variant of 于) indicates the pronunciation. Historically, the character also appeared as 汙 and 汚, varying the written form of the phonetic but retaining the water radical. The original sense was a pool of stagnant water or a puddle. This extended to physical dirt, filth, and stains. From these literal meanings arose abstract uses such as moral corruption, defilement, slander, and modern environmental pollution.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Late Warring States (~250 BC)

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

这条河被污染了。

Zhè tiáo hé bèi wūrǎn le.

This river has been polluted.

工厂排放污水。

Gōngchǎng páifàng wūshuǐ.

The factory discharges sewage.

衣服上有污点。

Yīfú shàng yǒu wūdiǎn.

There is a stain on the clothes.

厨房里有很多污垢。

Chúfáng lǐ yǒu hěnduō wūgòu.

There is a lot of dirt in the kitchen.

他不应该污蔑别人。

Tā bù yīnggāi wūmiè biérén.

He should not slander others.

污辱他人是不对的。

Wūrǔ tārén shì bù duì de.

Insulting others is wrong.

那个官员因贪污被捕。

Nàgè guānyuán yīn tānwū bèi bǔ.

That official was arrested for corruption.

如果继续污染环境，后果将很严重。

Rúguǒ jìxù wūrǎn huánjìng, hòuguǒ jiāng hěn yánzhòng.

If we continue to pollute the environment, the consequences will be very serious.

Related Characters

Component: 亏

Component: 氵

污