溢 (yì): to overflow

Meanings

1 to overflow
2 to spill over
3 to be brimming with

Characters

溢

yì

overflow; spill over

Examples

水从杯子里溢出来了。

Shuǐ cóng bēizi lǐ yìchū lái le.

Water overflowed from the cup.

她的脸上溢满了幸福的笑容。

Tā de liǎnshàng yìmǎn le xìngfú de xiàoróng.

Her face was brimming with a happy smile.

Tips

usage

溢 is often used figuratively: 洋溢 (to be brimming with), 溢满 (overflowing with). The radical 氵 (water) hints at its literal meaning of liquid overflowing.

memory

The water radical (氵) on the left + 益 (benefit/overflow) on the right - water that goes beyond its container.

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form of 水)

Left three-drop water radical - side-form of 水 (Kangxi #85). Anchors 溢 firmly in the liquid family. Indexes the literal meaning: liquid overflowing a vessel. Same radical drives 流 (flow), 漏 (leak), 泛 (overflow widely), 浸 (steep), 满 (full to brim). 溢 is the slightly stronger sibling of 流, marking water passing over the rim.

phonetic

益 yì

benefit; increase (here phonetic + semantic)

Right 益 supplies the sound - yì unchanged. 益 itself is etymologically the same word: it pictures 水 (water) over 皿 (vessel), originally meaning 'water overflowing a bowl'. 溢 is the modern character that took over that literal meaning, while 益 specialised to the figurative 'benefit, increase'. So 溢 = water + (water-over-vessel) - a doubled overflow image.