泻
xiè · HSK 7
diarrhea
🌊 氵water + 写(xiě write) = water that writes itself across the floor; pours out fast
The water radical 氵 sits beside 写 xiě (write), and 泻 xiè keeps almost that exact sound. Meaning runs from a torrent flooding out to the body flooding out as diarrhea.
泻 — water radical 氵 + 写 (xiě, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the water radical 氵 gives the meaning (flowing water), while 写 supplies the sound. It originally described water rushing or pouring down rapidly, and by extension came to mean to drain, discharge, or have diarrhea.