Origin

This character combines water (the left component, a classifier showing this word relates to liquids or moisture) with a sound hint on the right that tells you roughly how to pronounce it. The water component connects to meanings like "nourishing" and "turbidity" — water that brings moisture and nutrients to plants makes them grow luxuriantly, and water can also become turbid or cloudy. Over time, the character extended to mean "more and more" or "increasingly," likely because of how water gradually spreads and accumulates.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).