皋

gāo
noun #81,286

Meanings

  1. 1 the marshy land along a riverbank; waterside

Examples

HSK 7-9
Hè zài shuǐbiān de gāo shàng míngjiào.
Cranes are calling on the marshland by the water.

Tips

register
皋 is literary and rarely used as a standalone word in modern Chinese; it mostly appears in classical poetry and place names. As a sound element it also feeds 睾 (testis, medical term) and 嗥 (to howl).
memory
The 'white' 白 on top is the pale dawn light on the water; 皋 is the dim, misty land at the river's edge before sunrise.

Components

semantic
白 bái
white; pale light
The 'white' element pictures faint pre-dawn light on the marsh, the original image behind 皋.
ideograph
夲 tāo
rising / spreading element
The lower element suggests light spreading upward over the flat waterside, completing the riverbank picture of 皋.

Stroke Order

皋 gāo