流 (liú)

to flow; to disseminate; to circulate or spread; to move or drift; to

HSK 3.1 level 2
10 strokes

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 㐬 represents the sound.

Shuowen Jiezi

《說文》：“，水行也。从沝、，，突忽也。流，篆文从水。”

Components

氵 (meaning) — 氵 is a component form of 水.
㐬 (sound, iconic) — Depicts an upside-down child (子) being born headfirst with amniotic fluid flowing out.