涂 (tú): to smear

Meanings

1 to smear
2 to apply
3 to spread on
4 to paint

Characters

涂

tú

to smear; to apply

Examples

她在脸上涂了防晒霜。

Tā zài liǎnshàng tú le fángshàishuāng.

She applied sunscreen on her face.

他把墙涂成白色。

Tā bǎ qiáng tú chéng báisè.

He painted the wall white.

Tips

usage

涂 is used for spreading or applying substances onto surfaces — paint, cream, butter, etc. For artistic painting, use 画.

memory

涂 has the water radical (氵) on the left — think of spreading a liquid substance onto something.

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form)

Left water-radical 氵 — the indexing radical. The original referent was mud/slurry — water mixed with earth, the substance one smears on a wall. From 'mud-smear' came the verb 'to spread, daub, paint, smear' (涂抹, 涂料). Same radical anchors 沙 (sand), 漆 (lacquer).

phonetic

余 yú

I; surplus; remaining

Right 余 supplies the sound (yú → tú, a regular alternation in the same phonetic family). Phonetic family: 途 tú (way), 涂 tú (smear), 除 chú (remove), 徐 xú (slow) — all built on 余. Semantically silent here — pure sound carrier.