Definitions

luò a river in Shandong province

Etymology phono-semantic

water

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

(traditional ) is a phono-semantic compound: the water radical on the left signals an aquatic meaning, while the right side () operates as the phonetic. It primarily functions as a proper name for rivers and bodies of water, most famously the Luo River in Shandong, a tributary of the Yellow River. It also has a rare alternative reading meaning 'lake' or 'large pool,' encountered mainly in classical geographical texts.

Etymology Hide

Oracle etymology image
Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn (~500 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern