Definitions

liú clear; deep (of water); swift

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character 浏, traditionally written as 瀏, is composed of the water radical 氵 and the component 刘, which historically provided phonetic guidance while reinforcing associations with fluid movement. Etymologically, it originated in early Chinese texts to depict water that is clear, deep, and flowing swiftly, a meaning consistently tied to its hydraulic element. Over time, its semantic range expanded beyond literal descriptions of water to adopt abstract qualities of swiftness and comprehensive coverage, evident in modern usage such as in the term 浏览, which conveys the act of glancing over or surveying materials quickly and thoroughly. This shift from concrete to metaphorical applications reflects a natural linguistic adaptation while retaining the character's structural integrity and core allusion to liquid clarity and motion.

Etymology Hide

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

Example Sentences Hide

我喜欢览新闻网站。

Wǒ xǐhuān liúlǎn xīnwén wǎngzhàn.

I like to browse news websites.

我们使用览器上网。

Wǒmen shǐyòng liúlǎn qì shàngwǎng.

We use a browser to access the internet.

他快速地览了一下报告。

Tā kuàisù de liúlǎn le yíxià bàogào.

He quickly skimmed through the report.

览商品信息很方便。

Liúlǎn shāngpǐn xìnxī hěn fāngbiàn.

Browsing product information is very convenient.

我习惯在睡前览社交媒体。

Wǒ xíguàn zài shuì qián liúlǎn shèjiāo méitǐ.

I am in the habit of browsing social media before sleep.

请您仔细览这份合同条款。

Qǐng nín zǐxì liúlǎn zhè fèn hétong tiáokuǎn.

Please carefully review the terms of this contract.

他的眼睛览过房间的每个角落。

Tā de yǎnjing liúlǎnguò fángjiān de měi ge jiǎoluò.

His eyes swept over every corner of the room.

为了节省流量,他关闭了览器的图片加载。

Wèile jiéshěng liúliàng, tā guānbìle liúlǎn qì de túpiàn jiāzǎi.

To save data, he turned off image loading in the browser.