浸水 (jìn shuǐ) — to immerse or dip in water; to be inundated or flooded

Definition

Literary/formal verb for soaking or flooding something in water. Unlike 泡 (to soak, usually food/laundry) or 淹 (passive flooding), 浸水 is more written and technical, often used for fabric processing or land inundation.

verb
to immerse or dip in waterto be inundated or flooded

Examples

  • 浸水。
    Tā bǎ yī fu jìn shuǐ lǐ le.
    She immersed the clothes in water.
  • 。
    Zhè bù liào xū yào jìn sān cì shuǐ cái néng yòng.
    This fabric needs to be soaked in water three times before use.
  • 浸水。
    Lián xù jiàng yǔ dǎo zhì nóng tián dà miàn jī jìn shuǐ.
    Continuous rainfall caused large areas of farmland to be inundated.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

浸jìnsoak
水shuǐwater

浸 means to soak or immerse, and 水 gives the water involved.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡩠
𡩠𡩠浸jìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

浸 is built from 水, meaning water, and 𡩠, which gives the sound.

Open 浸 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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