About
The character "漂", whose traditional form remains the same, is structurally composed of the water radical (氵) on the left and the phonetic component "票" on the right, a pairing that directly informs its core meaning. Etymologically, it originally conveyed the concrete action of objects floating or drifting on the surface of water, a sense neatly captured by its aquatic element. Over time, its semantic field broadened to encompass more abstract and metaphorical notions of movement and instability, such as wandering without a fixed home or even the idea of something being washed away. This expansion also allowed the character to develop a distinct, yet related, meaning when pronounced with a different tone, referring to the process of bleaching or rinsing, which retains the conceptual link to the action of water. Thus, from its foundational concept of buoyancy, the character acquired layers of meaning describing both physical drift and transformative cleansing.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
她今天很漂亮。
树叶漂浮在水上。
小船在河中漂流。
他一生都在漂泊。
这件衣服需要漂白。
漂流瓶里有一封信。
漂浮的云朵像棉花糖。
漂泊异乡的他常常思念家乡。