洄 (huí): to flow back; to swirl (of wate…

Meanings

1 to flow back; to swirl (of water); an eddy
2 to go against the current

Characters

洄

huí

to swirl back; eddy; go upstream

Examples

HSK 7-9

河流转弯处，水打着回洄。

Héliú zhuǎnwān chù, shuǐ dǎ zhe huíhuí.

Where the river bends, the water swirls into eddies.

HSK 7-9

鲑鱼洄游而上，逆流产卵。

Guīyú huíyóu ér shàng, nìliú chǎnluǎn.

The salmon swim upstream against the current to spawn.

Tips

usage

Common in 洄游 - the biology term for fish migration (salmon, eels) swimming back upstream against the current. The base image is water turning back on itself in a whirl.

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (left-side radical)

Three-drop water radical, side-form of 水. It fixes the meaning on moving water - here water curling back into an eddy. Same family as 流 to flow, 漩 whirlpool, 波 wave.

phonetic

回 huí

to return; to turn back

Right side 回 gives both the sound huí and the meaning: a swirl is water 'returning,' turning back on itself. The nested-square shape itself pictures something spiraling inward.