溉 meaning and stroke order
To water, to irrigate, to flood; to wash
How to write 溉, stroke by stroke
12 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 溉
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to irrigate
How 溉 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 既 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 溉
The water radical 氵 on the left tells you the meaning: water. The right side 既 (jì) gives a sound hint, so picture water being poured into a field until it is already (既) full.
溉 (gài) almost never appears alone in modern Chinese. You will meet it in the word 灌溉 (guàngài), to irrigate, often in farming or news contexts. Example: 农民用河水灌溉田地。(Nóngmín yòng héshuǐ guàngài tiándì.) Farmers irrigate the fields with river water.
Common mistake: Learners often read 溉 as jì because of the phonetic part 既, but the correct reading is gài with a falling fourth tone. Also watch the right side: it is 既, not 即 (jí), so it includes the extra 旡 shape on the right.
Common words with 溉
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 灌溉 | guàngài | to irrigate | HSK 7-9 |
Questions about 溉
How many strokes are in 溉?
溉 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 溉 mean?
溉 (gài) means to water, to irrigate, to flood; to wash. A common word with it is 灌溉 (guàngài), meaning "to irrigate".
How do you pronounce 溉?
溉 is pronounced gài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 溉?
The radical of 溉 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 溉 under this radical.
Is 溉 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 溉 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 灌溉 and 浇水?
灌溉 (guàngài) means irrigating fields or land on a large scale, usually in agriculture. 浇水 (jiāoshuǐ) is the everyday word for watering plants or a garden.
Can I use 溉 by itself to mean to water?
Not in normal modern speech. On its own it sounds literary, so use 灌溉 for irrigation or 浇 (jiāo) for watering plants.