游戏
yoú xì · HSK 3
game
🎮 游戏 = swim/roam + play; 游 carries the sense of free-roaming fun
游 means to swim or roam freely, 戏 means play or drama. Together they cover any game — board, video, or schoolyard. Sound: yóu xì, like English yo-she with falling tones.
游 — water radical 氵 + 斿 (banner/streamer)
游 combines the water radical 氵 with 斿, which depicts a banner streaming in the wind. The original sense was a flag fluttering or floating, extended to drifting on water, swimming, and wandering. Today it commonly means to swim, travel, or roam.
戏 — 戈 spear + 虚-variant 虍/seat (left)
Originally written 戲, combining a left element depicting a ceremonial vessel or tiger-headed seat with 戈 (spear/halberd) on the right, suggesting armed performance or mock combat. It came to mean 'play, drama, theatrical performance.' The modern simplified form 戏 keeps 戈 and replaces the complex left side with 又 (hand).