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.
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.
Right 屋 supplies the sound: wū → 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.
