yǒng
noun #9,150

Meanings

  1. 1 swimming; to swim

Examples

Wǒ xǐhuan yóuyǒng.
I like swimming.
Tā cānjiā le yóuyǒng bǐsài.
He participated in a swimming competition.

Tips

usage
is almost always used in the compound 游泳 (yóuyǒng, to swim/swimming). Also: 泳池 (yǒngchí, swimming pool), 泳衣 (yǒngyī, swimsuit), 蛙泳 (wāyǒng, breaststroke).

Components

radical
shuǐ
water (radical form of 水)
Three-drops water radical on the left — the side-form of , three abbreviated droplets that index in the vast water family alongside , , , , . Here it locks the meaning to something done in water: swimming.
phonetic
yǒng
forever; long-flowing (here phonetic + semantic)
Right carries sound (yǒng = yǒng, no shift) and a hint of meaning — originally pictured branching water currents and meant 'long, flowing.' Add water and you get 'long flowing water,' what a swimmer moves through. Family: (chant), (swim) — same phonetic, same yǒng reading.

Stroke Order

yǒng