浇 (jiāo): to water

Meanings

1 to water
2 to pour (liquid)
3 to sprinkle

Characters

浇

jiāo

to water; to pour

Examples

记得每天浇花。

Jìde měitiān jiāohuā.

Remember to water the flowers every day.

她往菜上浇了一勺酱汁。

Tā wǎng cài shàng jiāo le yī sháo jiàng zhī.

She poured a spoonful of sauce over the dish.

Tips

usage

浇 is used for pouring liquid onto something: 浇花 (water flowers), 浇水 (pour water). For pouring into a container, use 倒 (dào) instead.

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (left-side radical)

Three-drop water radical on the left — the side-form of 水. Indexes 浇 as a water-action: pouring, sprinkling, drenching. Same family as 淋 to drench, 洒 to sprinkle, 泼 to splash. The radical declares the medium; the right side will tell you the specific kind of pouring.

phonetic

尧 yáo

lofty; sage-king Yao

Right side 尧 supplies the sound (yáo → jiāo, palatal drift typical of this phonetic family). Simplified from traditional 堯, which depicted a person standing on three mounds of earth — something rising high. Same phonetic gives 烧 to burn, 晓 dawn, 饶 abundant. Here it carries the picture of water rising and spilling over.