洗 xǐ — to wash, to bathe; to rinse away; to develop (photographs)

Pinyin

• xǐ (third tone, dipping)

to wash, to bathe; to rinse away; to develop (photographs)

Character breakdown

• 氵meaning partno entry yetThe water radical: three droplets of the stream 水.
• 先sound partno entry yet先 xiān for the sound; on its own it means "first, in advance".

Mnemonic

Water 氵 with 先 for the sound. The Shuowen gives the original sense as washing the feet, and 先 is doing no more than supplying the sound. Everyday: 洗手, 洗衣服, 洗澡 to take a bath, 洗碗 to do the dishes, and 洗照片 to have photographs developed.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 洗

• 洗xǐ (third tone, dipping)to wash
• 洗澡xǐzǎo (third tone, dipping)to have a bath, to take a shower
• 洗手间/洗手間xǐshǒujiān (third tone, dipping)toilet, washroom, restroom

Radical 水 — other characters

• 水shuǐ (third tone, dipping)water
• 海hǎi (third tone, dipping)sea, ocean; a great quantity of something
• 河hé (second tone, rising)a river; (originally, with a capital) the Yellow River