荷

He2
#1,425 most
frequent character
Holland, the Netherlands

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

荷 joins 艹 plants with 何 hé as the sound part. It first meant 'lotus'. Read hé, 'the Netherlands' was borrowed only for its sound. Read hè, 'to shoulder a burden' was also borrowed for sound, then grew to 'burden' and 'responsibility'.

荷 as a component in other characters

sound1 character
嗬

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Same Characters, Different Readings

荷hé
lotus
荷hè
to carry on one's shoulder or back

Homophones

何He2
surname He

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