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藻

zǎo
noun #58,055

Meanings

  1. 1 algae; water plants
  2. 2 literary embellishment; flowery diction

Examples

池塘里水藻太多，水变绿了。
Chítáng lǐ shuǐzǎo tài duō, shuǐ biàn lǜ le.
The pond has too much algae and the water has turned green.
海藻富含矿物质。
Hǎizǎo fùhán kuàngwùzhì.
Seaweed is rich in minerals.
他的文章辞藻华丽。
Tā de wénzhāng cízǎo huálì.
His essay is full of ornate, flowery language.

Tips

usage
Common in 海藻 ('seaweed') and 水藻 ('water algae'). The figurative 辞藻 ('rhetorical flourishes, ornate wording') comes from comparing pretty phrases to decorative water plants.

Components

radical
艹 cǎo
grass; plant
The grass radical on top marks this as a plant: algae are water-dwelling plants, so the character joins the large family of vegetation words.
phonetic
澡 zǎo
to bathe
Sits below the grass radical and supplies the sound: 澡 zǎo gives the reading directly. Its water radical also faintly suits a water plant.

Stroke Order

藻 zǎo