沧

滄
cāng
adjective #57,153

Meanings

  1. 1 dark blue-green (of the sea)
  2. 2 cold

Examples

HSK 6
Duōnián hòu tā chángjìn le rénshēng de cāngsāng.
After many years he had been through all life's ups and downs.
HSK 7-9
Zhàn zài mángmáng cānghǎi biān, tā gǎndào zìjǐ de miǎoxiǎo.
Standing by the vast deep-blue sea, he felt his own smallness.

Tips

usage
沧 describes the deep blue-green of a vast sea: 沧海 (the great blue ocean). The famous 沧桑 (lit. 'blue sea to mulberry fields') means the great changes life brings over time.
register
The 'cold' sense is literary and archaic, found in classical texts rather than modern speech.

Components

radical
氵 shuǐ
water
氵 is the water radical 水 in left-side form, fitting 沧 as the deep blue-green color of a great body of water.
phonetic
仓 cāng
storehouse; granary
仓 (storehouse) supplies the sound cāng exactly and carries no meaning here, serving as the phonetic part.

Stroke Order

沧 cāng