paint; lacquer; CL:道[dao4]; to paint (furniture, walls etc)
Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 桼 represents the sound. Originally written as 桼, which depicts lacquer or sap oozing out from a varnish tree (木).
《說文》：“漆，水。出右扶風杜陵岐山，東入渭。一曰入洛。从水，桼聲。”