浸泡
jìn pào · HSK 7
to soak
🫖 浸 soak + 泡 soak/steep = double-soak; both share the 氵 water radical
浸 (jìn) means to immerse and 泡 (pào) means to steep or soak, so 浸泡 doubles down on the idea of leaving something submerged in liquid. Both characters carry the 氵 water radical on the left, marking the watery action.
泡 — water radical 氵 + wrap 包
泡 is a phono-semantic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning (related to liquid), while 包 (bāo, 'wrap/enclose') supplies the sound and hints at something enclosed. Originally it described bubbles—pockets of air wrapped by water—and later extended to soaking or steeping.