镏 (liú): to gild; to gold-plate (in 镏金)

Meanings

佛像表面镏金，闪闪发光。

Fóxiàng biǎomiàn liújīn, shǎnshǎn fāguāng.

The Buddha statue's surface is gilded and shines brightly.

这些镏金饰品很值钱。

Zhèxiē liújīn shìpǐn hěn zhíqián.

These gilded ornaments are very valuable.

usage

Read liú, the everyday word is 镏金 ('gilding, gold-plating'). In Taiwan chemistry texts the same character also names the element lutetium.

radical

钅 jīn

metal

钅 is the metal radical, the left-side form of 金. Both senses, gilding with gold and the metallic element, sit naturally under 'metal'.

phonetic

留 liú

to remain; to keep

留 supplies the exact sound liú. Its meaning 'to stay, remain' is incidental here; it works as the phonetic beside the metal radical.

镏 liú