雨水
yǔshuǐ · HSK 5
rainwater
🌧️ 雨水 = rain + water
Compound of 雨 (rain) + 水 (water), literally rainwater. Also names the second solar term in the traditional Chinese calendar, falling around Feb 18–19, when spring rains begin to replace winter snow.
雨 — pictograph: sky 一 + cloud 冂 + four water drops
雨 is a pictograph showing rain falling from a cloud under the sky. The top horizontal stroke represents the sky, the enclosing shape depicts a cloud, and the four small strokes inside are falling raindrops. Its meaning 'rain' has stayed consistent since oracle bone script.
水 — pictograph of flowing water
水 is a pictograph depicting a stream of flowing water, with the central line representing the main current and the side strokes showing splashing droplets or ripples. In oracle bone script it was drawn even more clearly as a wavy vertical line with branches. It retains its original meaning of 'water' and also serves as a radical, often appearing in the compressed form 氵.