Definitions

name of a river

Etymology phono-semantic

water

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character is a phono-semantic compound, combining the water radical on the left with the phonetic component on the right. The water radical indicates the meaning relates to water, and gives the pronunciation xù. The traditional form is , which uses the older variant of the phonetic component alongside the same water radical. Today, is used almost exclusively as a proper noun: it refers to the Xu River (溆水) in Hunan province, and appears in the place name Xupu (溆浦), meaning 'banks of the Xu River'.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern