水泥
shuǐní · HSK 6
cement
🧱 水泥 = water + mud — powder that becomes hard mud with water
Cement starts as dry powder. Add water and it turns to a mud-like paste, then sets stone-hard. The name captures that cycle: water-mud.
水 — pictograph of flowing water
水 is a pictograph depicting a stream of flowing water, with the central line representing the main current and the side strokes showing splashing droplets or ripples. In oracle bone script it was drawn even more clearly as a wavy vertical line with branches. It retains its original meaning of 'water' and also serves as a radical, often appearing in the compressed form 氵.
泥 — water radical 氵 + 尼 (phonetic)
泥 is a phono-semantic compound. The water radical 氵 indicates a connection to water or wetness, while 尼 (ní) supplies the pronunciation. Together they denote 'mud'—earth mixed with water—and by extension soft, sticky substances like plaster or paste.