shuǐ
water
Meanings & readings
Meanings & dictionary uses
2 senses · 6 wordsWater as a substance, including water in a river or water prepared for drinking. A description such as clear water is not by itself a statement about drinking safety.
Compounds involving water, surfaces, or conventional extended meanings. Read the whole compound before choosing an English translation.
Languages & readings
Choose a recorded reading. Explore other varieties through their reference sources below.
Mandarin
Sense-linked readingsReadings & meanings
- shuǐ — Water as a substance, including water in a river or water prepared for drinking. A description such as clear water is not by itself a statement about drinking safety.
- shuǐ — Compounds involving water, surfaces, or conventional extended meanings. Read the whole compound before choosing an English translation.
Usage scope
Regional and word-specific qualifications remain attached to the sense and vocabulary records.
Cantonese
Selected character readingSource & reading limitations
Jyutping · Unihan 17.0.0
This property supplies a customary character reading for collation and transliteration. It does not list every reading or identify the reading for each word and sense. It also does not encode a separate regional label for each value.
Other Chinese languages & varieties
Reference guides · character readings not yet imported.
Taiwanese Hokkien 臺灣台語Reference sources only
The Ministry of Education dictionary is the reference for Taiwanese vocabulary and readings. Its Tâi-lô guide distinguishes citation tones from changes in connected speech. Other Hokkien varieties require their own sources.
- Reference variety
- Taiwanese Hokkien, with the regional distinctions recorded by Taiwan's Ministry of Education
- Notation
- Tâi-lô (臺羅), as used by the linked MOE dictionary
Hakka 客語Reference sources only
Taiwan's Ministry of Education documents six Hakka varieties separately. Choose the variety before comparing readings; a single undifferentiated Hakka pronunciation would hide meaningful differences.
- Reference variety
- Taiwan: Sixian, Hailu, Dapu, Raoping, Zhao'an and Southern Sixian
- Notation
- Taiwan Hakka Romanization System (臺灣客語拼音方案)
Teochew 潮州話／潮汕話Reference sources only
Explore CUHK's published Chaozhou lexicon and its separate Shantou sound table. These reference locations remain explicit: readings from one locality should not stand in for every Teochew variety.
- Reference variety
- Chaozhou lexicon; separate Shantou syllable-table resource
- Notation
- Source phonetic transcription; no shared local romanization imported
Wu 吳語・上海話Reference sources only
The linked university resource documents Shanghai. Wu also includes other local varieties; Shanghai readings should retain that location label when compared with Mandarin or Cantonese.
- Reference variety
- Shanghai
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Eastern Min 閩東語・福州話Reference sources only
Fuzhou is an Eastern Min reference variety. Its dedicated CUHK sound table offers a starting point; other Eastern Min localities need distinct records and source attribution.
- Reference variety
- Fuzhou
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Gan 贛語・南昌話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Nanchang sound table. The broader Gan group contains local differences, so future readings should identify Nanchang or another documented locality explicitly.
- Reference variety
- Nanchang
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Xiang 湘語・長沙話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Changsha sound table. Keep Changsha separate from other Xiang localities when adding readings; the group name does not denote one uniform pronunciation.
- Reference variety
- Changsha
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese
Readings recorded for 水 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.
Japanese 日本語
Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.
On’yomi · katakana
Kun’yomi · hiragana
Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.
Go deeperJisho ↗Wiktionary ↗
Korean 한국어
Hanja readings · Hangul
Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.
Go deeperNaver Hanja ↗Wiktionary ↗
Reading sources explained
- 수
- KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
Character readings · Quốc ngữ
Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.
Go deeperHán Việt (Thi Viện) ↗Wiktionary ↗
Form & structure
Structure & components
0 direct parts- Layout
- single
- Index radical
- 水 · 85 · 0 residual strokes
The standalone character 水 has a central hooked stroke and strokes to either side. 氵 is a contextual component form commonly placed on the left of another character; it is not a separate word with an invented independent pronunciation. Recognizing the relationship helps you move between standalone 水 and characters containing 氵 while keeping their different written shapes clear.
Follow the recorded parts
recorded boundaryA boundary means no finer analysis is published here; it does not assert an indivisible unit. Radical classification and component structure are separate.
Inspect the component network ↗Writing
4 strokesModern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. [47]
Words & connections
Examples
2 sentences請給我一杯水。
请给我一杯水。
Please give me a glass of water.
雨後，河水漲了。
雨后，河水涨了。
After the rain, the river rose.
Original editorial sentences. Pinyin uses dictionary tones; connected speech may differ.
Connections
0 phonetic neighboursThis pilot does not link this character to a sound (phonetic) family. Explore the other recorded relationships below.
History & distinctions
Etymology & evidence
2 accountsA flow with side marks
CUHK describes early 水 with a central line representing flowing water and side marks interpreted as drops. It notes variation in the number and arrangement of those marks in oracle-bone and bronze writing. There is no need to manufacture a single perfectly regular sequence from those varied forms.
What the evidence can say
The database cites an oracle-bone example about a large flood and also discusses other early uses. This introductory portrait uses the clearly supported water account; disputed readings of specialist inscription passages remain outside its current scope.
Reading this character · explanatory note
水 is the ordinary word for water and a productive part of words about liquids, rivers, and everyday life. 河水 is river water; 水面 is the water’s surface; 開水 / 开水 is water that has been boiled or is boiling. Some compounds need to be learned as words: 水果 means fruit, and 水平 can describe someone’s level of ability. CUHK interprets early 水 as flowing water. In many modern characters the related component appears as 氵 on the left, as in 清. Its position and role must still be checked character by character.
Historical specimens remain at their sources. No dated attestation sequence or licensed specimen image is claimed.
Inspect CUHK’s forms and discussion ↗Forms & distinctions
水 has the same encoded form in standard traditional and simplified Chinese. In compounds such as 開水 / 开水, other characters change. The presence of 氵 can be a useful clue when learning a modern character, but zimai requires separate evidence before labeling any particular relation as a historical semantic component.
This is the common left-side component form associated with 水, not an interchangeable standalone spelling in an ordinary sentence.
This shape can appear as a lower component. A component’s placement changes how it is drawn; it should not be assigned a new standalone word merely because it has a distinct shape.
Historical readings
- Middle Chinese
- sywijX · 式軌 反切 · #1266
Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.
Source row & reading categories
CSV line 9289 · sywijX = 止合三上脂書
Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗
Sources & reference
Sources & research
4 sourcesLocator & rights
形義通解, 略說 and 詳解; character entry · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
Release 2026-10-12T08:13:53Z. Exact word-reading locators are retained with each WordRecord. · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
17.0.0 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
bddc96d41bef78427ed0e034e9f7e31d71fd1b92 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Open research · 1 items
- Historical specimen images and their item-level dating have not been licensed or independently checked; follow the source link to inspect its evidence.
Cited claims compared with the consulted entries; no independent expert review recorded.
Readings across dictionaries
- Hanyu Da Zidian
- shuǐ 31545.010
- Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
- shuǐ 1075.010
- Tongyong Guifan · 2013
- shuǐ 344.130
- Reading counts · XDHYPLCD
- shuǐ(2819)
- Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
- shuǐ粵seoi2