洒 and 洗 are historically related; in some traditions, 洒 is used in the sense of sprinkling for purification while 洗 is used for washing and scrubbing.
In classical Chinese, often used in ritual contexts where water is sprinkled to purify a space before ceremonies.

Phono-semantic compound:
水 (water radical) – semantic, indicating liquid or washing.
西 (west, evening) – phonetic element, giving the sound “사.”
Together, the character denotes the act of using water to cleanse, scatter, or sprinkle.

세례(洗禮/洒禮) – baptism, ritual washing
관세음보살(灌洒觀音) – Avalokiteśvara associated with sprinkling/purification
洒掃 – to sweep and sprinkle, to clean thoroughly

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

to seek, to request, to strive for, to beg, to ask

to decide, to determine, to judge

to govern, to rule, to cure, to treat (illness), to control, to regulate, to punish

situation, condition, state of affairs, furthermore, let alone

spring, fountain, source of water

law, rule, method, principle

wave, ripple, flow, undulation

ocean, vast sea

to wash, sprinkle, scatter water, purify

to wash, cleanse, rinse

vast, great, immense, flood, deluge

to live, to be alive, lively, active, flowing, moving, fresh

branch, stream, faction

to flow, to circulate, to drift, to spread, to diffuse

sea, ocean

to disappear, to vanish, to reduce, to eliminate

clean, pure, clear

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Explore the meaning, etymology and usage of this Chinese character. Learn its radical and how it is applied in Korean language.

Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

洒

Etymology

Usage in Korean

Additional notes

Characters next to each other in the list

References