漏

lòu

屚 + 氵

HSK 2.0Level 5

HSK 3.0Level 5

Definitions

lòu (verb) to leak; to drip

lòu (verb) to divulge; to reveal

lòu (verb) to leave out; to miss

Etymology

Originally written as 屚, which depicts rainwater (雨) leaking through a house roof (屋). The 氵 (water) component was added later to clarify the meaning.

About

漏 is a phono-semantic compound. The water radical 氵 (shuǐ) on the left provides the semantic category of liquids and moisture. The right side is the component 屚 (lòu), which acts as the phonetic element. 屚 itself is composed of the radical 尸 (shī) over 雨 (yǔ), evoking the image of rain leaking through a roof. The character's primary meaning is the physical seepage of liquid through an opening. This concrete sense naturally extends to abstract concepts like omitting information or inadvertently revealing a secret, both implying a breach of containment.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我的屋顶漏水了。

Wǒ de wūdǐng lòu shuǐ le.

My roof is leaking.

水管漏了很多水。

Shuǐguǎn lòu le hěn duō shuǐ.

The water pipe leaked a lot of water.

别漏掉重要信息。

Bié lòu diào zhòngyào xìnxī.

Don't omit important information.

名单上遗漏了他的名字。

Míngdān shàng yílòu le tā de míngzì.

His name was omitted from the list.

他说话时不小心漏了底。

Tā shuōhuà shí bù xiǎoxīn lòu le dǐ.

He accidentally revealed the secret while speaking.

检查系统是否有漏洞。

Jiǎnchá xìtǒng shìfǒu yǒu lòudòng.

Check if the system has any loopholes.

雨水从窗户的缝隙漏进来。

Yǔshuǐ cóng chuānghu de fèngxì lòu jìnlái.

Rainwater is leaking in through the gaps in the window.

报告不能遗漏任何关键数据。

Bàogào bù néng yílòu rènhé guānjiàn shùjù.

The report must not omit any key data.

Related Characters

Component: 屚

Component: 氵

漏