Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

流: current, a sink

Also: flow, forfeit

JLPT N310 strokesGrade 3Your ink: 白 Not met

氵 carries the meaning · 㐬 is drawn in

10 strokes

Four readings, and the words that use each

リュウryuu · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 流行するりゅうこうするbe fashionable, widespread
  • 合流するごうりゅうするmerge
  • 上流じょうりゅうupper stream, upper classes
  • 下流かりゅうdownstream, lower classes
  • 主流しゅりゅうmain current
  • 一流いちりゅうfirst class, top-notch
  • 電流でんりゅうelectric current
  • 流派りゅうはschool (e.g. of ikebana)
  • 流暢なりゅうちょうなfluent

ルru · on'yomi

  • 流布するるふするcirculate, disseminate

ながれるnagareru · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 流れるながれるflow [v.i.]

ながすnagasu · kun'yomi

  • 流すながすdrain, shed (blood, tears) [v.t.]

Also read ながれ, -ながす, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Phono-semantic compound (形聲)水 water (meaning) + 㐬 (sound)

Source: Wiktionary, 流 (rev. 92200926), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Imagine three raindrops falling—that's sanzui! Whenever you see these three dots on the left side of a kanji, think of water, liquids, or anything that flows.”
More in the 氵 water story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
氵

Also built on water (氵)

All 125
㐬

Also built on 㐬

Also read リュウ

9 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read ル

7 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
流 current · 氵
vs琉 precious stone · 王
流 has 氵 where 琉 has 王.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · liú

Same form: 流 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
流 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
流 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin liú most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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