洗澡
xǐzǎo · HSK 2
take a bath
🛁 洗 = wash + 澡 = bathe; together: take a bath
洗 means to wash (water radical 氵 + 先 xiān for sound). 澡 means to bathe the body (water radical 氵 + 喿 zào for sound). The compound literally pairs wash + bathe, used for bathing oneself.
洗 — water radical 氵 + 先 (xiān)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 indicates the meaning (washing with water), while 先 supplies the sound, originally close to xiǎn/xǐ. The character has long meant 'to wash' or 'rinse,' and by extension 'to cleanse' or 'wash away.'