How to Write 沤 (ōu/òu) — Meaning “to soak; to compost”

Picture a small area (区) filled with water (氵) where you leave vegetable scraps to rot into compost. The visual of a water-soaked patch helps link the sound ōu to the meaning of soaking.

Write the three dots of 氵 first, then the 区 component: horizontal line, left vertical, inner X (like two slanted lines crossing), and finally the bottom horizontal. A common mistake is to forget the bottom horizontal of 区 or to write the inner part as a single 乂 without crossing.

沤 has 区 (area) on the right, while 氿 has 九 (nine). Visually, 区 contains an X shape inside a frame, whereas 九 is a simple curve. Meaning-wise, 沤 means to soak or make compost, while 氿 refers to a spring of water and is rarely used.

沤 appears mostly in agricultural contexts, like 沤肥 (to make compost by soaking plant matter). It also appears in the expression 沤气, meaning to hold a grudge or suppressed anger, which is used in literary or emotional descriptions. It is not common in daily conversation but valuable for understanding farming or figurative language.

Common words containing 沤 include: 沤肥 (òu féi) — to make compost; to ret fertilizer; 沤气 (ōu qì) — to harbor a grudge; to feel suppressed anger; 浸沤 (jìn ōu) — To steep.