沉淀
chén diàn · HSK 7
to settle
⬇️🧪 chén diàn — sink + settle; heavy stuff drops to the bottom
沉 means sink or heavy, 淀 means sediment or stagnant water. Together they describe solids dropping out of a liquid and collecting at the bottom — like silt settling in a river or a precipitate forming in a beaker.
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).