添

By extension: to enhance, to enrich, or to extend something already existing — whether in quantity, quality, or emotion.

Phono-semantic compound:

水 (물 수) — semantic component, representing water, flow, or fluid increase.

忝 (더럽힐 첨) — phonetic component, giving the sound tiān / cheom, originally meaning “to disgrace” or “to burden,” here reinterpreted as “to add to.”

Hence, 添 literally depicts the act of adding or increasing like water being poured — fluidly augmenting what is already present.

In Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字):

「添，益水也。从水，忝聲。」

“添 means to increase water; composed of 水 (water) and phonetic 忝.”

This confirms its original concrete sense: to fill or augment with water, later extended to general notions of adding or increasing.

添加 (첨가) — addition; supplement

添設 (첨설) — to set up additionally; to establish more

添水 (첨수) — to add water

添補 (첨보) — to make up for deficiency; to supplement

添置 (첨치) — to add or append

添削 (첨삭) — to revise or edit by adding and deleting

添花 (첨화) — to adorn, to embellish (“add flowers”)

Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, vol. 610):

「添，益也。」

“添 means to increase.”

In Confucian literature, 添 appears in moral contexts referring to adding virtue (添德) or augmenting merit (添福), expressing continuous self-cultivation.

Book of Han (漢書 · 食貨志):

「益民之產而不添其役。」

“Increase the people’s wealth without adding to their burdens.”

Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢 · 第五回):

「又添了幾件花樣。」

“Added several new designs again” — Illustrates the modern literary sense of 添 as creative addition or enhancement.

Zengguang Xianwen (增廣賢文):

「雪中送炭，錦上添花。」

“To send charcoal in the snow, or add flowers on brocade” — 添花 here metaphorically means to add beauty to beauty, emphasizing refinement beyond necessity.

In Daoist and Buddhist texts, 添 often contrasts with 減 (“to reduce”), representing the cyclical balance of increase and decrease (添減) — a reflection of natural harmony.

In literary aesthetics, expressions like 錦上添花 (to add flowers on brocade) convey the Confucian-Daoist ideal of refinement — the act of beautifying what is already complete.

Across classical and modern contexts, 添 embodies gentle augmentation, the art of enriching life without excess — like the quiet addition of water that completes a vessel, or the subtle flower that perfects a brocade.