沉浸
chén jìn · HSK 7
to immerse
🛁💧 chén jìn = sink + soak — water that sinks in and soaks through
沉 means to sink or submerge, 浸 means to soak or steep. Together they describe something sinking so deep into liquid that it saturates completely — like fabric left in a dye bath until the color permeates every fiber.
沉 — water 氵 + 冘 (phonetic, sinking figure)
Originally written 沈, this character combines the water radical 氵 with 冘, depicting a person sinking. It pictured an object or person submerged in water, giving the core meaning 'to sink.' From there it extended metaphorically to 'deep,' 'heavy,' and 'submerged in thought,' as in 沉默 (silent) or 沉重 (heavy).