How to Write 浏 (liú) — Meaning “clear; deep; to browse”

Picture a clear, deep river (氵) where a man named 刘 stands by the shore, using his phone to browse the internet. The water is so clear that he can see every detail, just like browsing through pages. This links the water radical to "clear" and the phonetic 刘 to the action of browsing.

Start with three dots for the water radical (氵) on the left, ensuring they are aligned vertically and slightly slanted. The right part 刘 has a 文 (wén) on top and 刂 (knife radical) on the bottom — note that the 文 should be compact, and the vertical stroke of 刂 must be longer than the left stroke. A common mistake is making the water radical too wide, so keep it narrow to balance the character.

浏 (liú) has the water radical and 刘, meaning "clear" or "to browse". 㳄 (xián or yǎn) combines water with 欠 (qiàn, to lack) and refers to saliva or spittle, a very different meaning. 汧 (qiān) has water with 开 (kāi, open) and is an old place name or means "river rapids" — visually, 汧 has 开 on the right instead of 刘, and it is not used in modern browsing contexts.

浏 appears most commonly in the words 浏览 (liú lǎn, to browse) and 浏览器 (liú lǎn qì, web browser), which are essential for internet use. It is also part of the city name 浏阳 (Liúyáng) in Hunan province, famous for its fireworks. Outside of these contexts, 浏 is rarely used alone, making it a specialized character for browsing-related vocabulary and proper nouns.

Common words containing 浏 include: 浏览 (liú lǎn) — to browse; to skim; 浏览器 (liú lǎn qì) — browser; 浏阳 (liú yáng) — Liuyang (a city in Hunan province).