渥

wò
adjective #15,444

Meanings

  1. 1 to moisten; to enrich
  2. 2 generous; ample

Examples

HSK 7-9
Wòtàihuá shì Jiānádà de shǒudū.
Ottawa is the capital of Canada.
HSK 7-9
Jūnzhǔ duì gōngchén wò jiā ēnshǎng.
The monarch generously bestowed rewards upon the meritorious officials.

Tips

usage
渥 is rare as a standalone word in modern Chinese. It's most commonly seen in the place name 渥太华 (Wòtàihuá, Ottawa). The literary meaning of 'generous; ample' appears only in classical texts.

Components

radical
氵 shuǐ
water (radical form of 水)
Left three-drops water radical - side-form of 水, the indexing radical. Marks 渥 as a liquid/wetness word, putting it with 湿 wet, 润 moist, 浸 soak, 浓 thick. Anchors the entry's core sense: to dampen or saturate with water.
phonetic
屋 wū
house
Right 屋 supplies the sound: wū to wò with tone shift, an exact match in the rime. Faint semantic flavor - like a roof catching rain - but the role is primarily phonetic. The literary 'generous, ample' meaning extends naturally from 'richly soaked, well-moistened,' an image of abundance.

Stroke Order

渥 wò