water

shuǐ (shui3)

Radical no. 85 · 4 strokes (85 部首 · 4 85 bùshǒu · 4 huà)

Radical ⽔ (shuǐ) — meaning: water, 4 strokes.

Origin & mnemonic

The water radical originates from a pictograph depicting flowing water. In seal script, it consists of three vertical strokes (representing streams of water) with a horizontal stroke in the middle (indicating the water surface), forming a wave-like shape.

Mnemonic: Three lines piercing through the middle represent three streams of water flowing across a wave's surface.

Characters with this radical (含此部首的字 hán cǐ bùshǒu de zì)

566 characters
  • (name of a river in Shaanxi Province)

    16 strokes

  • lián

    name of a river in Hunan

    16 strokes

  • suī

    name of a river

    16 strokes

  • Chǔ

    name of an ancient river (in present-day Dingtao County 定陶縣|定陶县[Ding4 tao2 Xian4], Shandong)

    16 strokes

  • lài

    name of a river

    16 strokes

  • bīn

    to approach

    16 strokes

  • huò

    cook

    16 strokes

  • many

    17 strokes

  • used in place names

    17 strokes

  • háo

    trench

    17 strokes

  • dilatory

    17 strokes

  • name of a river

    17 strokes

  • zhuó

    to wash

    17 strokes

  • name of a river in Hunan

    17 strokes

  • jìng

    (archaic) clean

    17 strokes

  • suǐ

    slippery

    17 strokes

  • biāo

    copious (of rain or snow)

    18 strokes

  • Chán

    Chanshui river in Henan

    18 strokes

  • waterfall

    18 strokes

  • variant of 濇[se4]

    18 strokes

  • river name in Henan province

    18 strokes

  • used in 鸂鶒|㶉𫛶[xi1 chi4]

    19 strokes

  • hàn

    ocean

    19 strokes

  • yíng

    ocean

    19 strokes

  • xiè

    mist

    19 strokes

  • guàn

    to irrigate

    HSK 7

    20 strokes

  • (literary) spring water gushing out

    20 strokes

  • yuè

    to cleanse

    20 strokes

  • chán

    sound of water

    20 strokes

  • ráng

    dewy

    20 strokes

  • ancient name of a river in Henan

    21 strokes

  • yōng

    name of a river

    21 strokes

  • hào

    vast (of water)

    21 strokes

  • (used to describe flowing water)

    22 strokes

  • name of a river

    24 strokes

  • nǎng

    muddy

    25 strokes

  • xún

    a group of springs

    27 strokes

  • (literary) (of waves) huge

    32 strokes

Related radicals (相关部首 xiāngguān bùshǒu)

Same stroke count or numerically adjacent in the 214-radical set.

⽔ water — Radical 85 | KoiSpeak