淹

yān
#2,575 most
frequent character
to flood, to submerge, to drown

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

淹 has 氵 water as the meaning part and 奄 yǎn as the sound part. It first meant to soak. The sense grew to inundate, flood or submerge, and then to irritate the skin.

Ask DeepSeek

Homophones

烟yān
smoke, tobacco, be irritated by smoke

Your word lists

Sign in to add this word to your private lists.