About
The character "洳" is composed of the water radical (氵) and the phonetic component "如". Its traditional form is identical, and it originally conveyed meanings associated with wetness, moisture, or marshy ground, logically derived from its water-related semantic element. Over time, its independent usage diminished, and it now appears almost exclusively in the classical binomial "沮洳", which describes low-lying, swampy land. The character’s meaning has thus narrowed from a broader sense of dampness to this specific, compounded term.
Etymology Hide
