漂

Phono-semantic compound:

水 (water radical) – semantic, relating to water, flow, washing;

票 (ticket, slip; phonetic element) – provides sound.

Original sense: “to float or drift on water.”

From “drifting” came extended meanings:

- “to wander aimlessly;”

- “to wash (clothes), to rinse clean;”

- figurative sense of “neat, elegant” from the idea of washed/purified appearance.

Semantic range:

- movement: to drift, to float, to travel with current;

- cleansing: to wash, rinse, bleach (especially clothes);

- figurative: light, elegant, neat, refined.

표류 (漂流) – drifting, drifting at sea

부표 (浮漂) – buoy, floating marker

漂 often overlaps with 浮 (to float), but 浮 emphasizes “buoyancy, rising,” while 漂 stresses “drifting, being carried by water.”

The “elegant, beautiful” sense appears in compounds like 漂亮 (beautiful, pretty) in modern Chinese.