浸

jìn
verb #9,564

Meanings

  1. 1 to soak; to immerse; to steep
  2. 2 to seep; to permeate gradually

Examples

HSK 3
Bǎ yīfu jìn zài shuǐ lǐ.
Soak the clothes in water.
HSK 5
Yǔshuǐ jìnshī le tā de xiézi.
The rainwater soaked his shoes.
HSK 5
Tā chénjìn zài yīnyuè zhōng.
She was immersed in the music.

Tips

usage
浸 appears in many useful compounds: 浸泡 (to soak), 浸湿 (to get wet through), 沉浸 (to be immersed/engrossed in), 浸透 (to soak through). 沉浸式 (chénjìnshì) = 'immersive' - used for language learning, VR, experiences.
memory
氵 (water) + 侵 (to encroach) minus the 亻 - water slowly encroaching into something. That's soaking.

Components

radical
氵 shuǐ
water (radical form of 水)
Left water radical - side-form of 水 drawn as three slanted drops. As the indexing radical it carries the literal meaning: soaking, immersing, and seeping are all about water acting on something. Same radical groups 浸 with 泡 to soak, 沉 to sink, 淋 to drench, 渗 to seep.
semantic
彐 jì
snout-shape; here a hand
Top-right 彐 - three-stroke shape representing a hand reaching down (a graphic remnant of 又). In 浸 it is a hand pushing something downward into the water below.
semantic
冖 mì
cover
Middle-right 冖 - a horizontal canopy with a small hook. Sits between the hand above and the hand below, suggesting the surface of the water that something is being pushed under. Reinforces the 'submerging' image of 浸.
semantic
又 yòu
right hand; again
Bottom-right 又 - pictograph of a right hand. Paired with the 彐 hand above and the 冖 cover between, it pictures both hands pressing something down through the surface - the literal image of immersion that gave 浸 its meaning.

Stroke Order

浸 jìn