Origin

This character appears to be a picture of water bubbling up from the ground. The top part shows water (the three horizontal lines that represent flowing water in many kanji), while the bottom part originally depicted a spring or wellspring emerging from below. Over time, the shape became more stylized and geometric, but it still captures the idea of water coming up from beneath the earth—which is exactly what a spring is. The character's meaning of "fountain" or "spring" comes directly from this visual representation of water rising from underground.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.