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治

zhì
verb HSK 4 #2,242

Meanings

  1. 1 to govern; to manage; to administer
  2. 2 to treat (illness); to cure
  3. 3 to punish; to control

Characters

治
zhì
to govern; to cure; to control
氵(water) + 台 — originally meant to control water (floods), extended to governance and healing

Examples

这种药能治感冒。
Zhèzhǒng yào néng zhì gǎnmào.
This medicine can cure a cold.
政府要治理环境污染。
Zhèngfǔ yào zhìlǐ huánjìng wūrǎn.
The government needs to address environmental pollution.
他的病治好了。
Tā de bìng zhì hǎole.
His illness has been cured.

Components

radical
氵 shuǐ
water
Three-drop water radical on the left — original sense of 治 was the management of waterways: dredging silt, building dykes. From water-engineering came the political metaphor: to govern is to control flow. Family: 河 (river), 流 (flow), 注 (pour), 渠 (canal).
phonetic
台 tái
platform (here phonetic)
Right 台 supplies the sound — tái drifted to zhì through a regular Old Chinese alternation (preserved in pairs like 治/zhì~怠/dài). Same phonetic in 始 shǐ (begin), 胎 tāi (foetus), 怠 dài (lazy), 殆 dài (perilous). 台 is itself 厶 (private) over 口 (mouth); pure phonetic role here.

Stroke Order

治 zhì