How to Write 洳 (rù) — Meaning “Damp; marshy (often used in river names)”

Imagine a marsh where water (氵) is everywhere, and it looks "like" (如) a swamp — the sound "rù" is similar to "ruh" like in "rough" but softer. Picture walking into a damp, muddy area that feels exactly like a marsh.

Start with the three dots of the water radical on the left, then write the right part 如: first the stroke for 女 (woman), then the square 口 (mouth). Keep the right part slightly taller than the left, and make sure the three dots are evenly spaced.

洳 has 如 (rù) on the right, meaning "like" or phonetic, and means marshy. 㳄 has 欠 (qiàn, "yawn") and is a rare character for saliva. 汧 has 开 (kāi, "open") and names a specific river. Their right-side parts and meanings are all distinct.

洳 is not a common daily character; it appears mostly in proper names like 洳河 (Rù Hé, a river in China) and in the literary word 沮洳 (jǔ rù, meaning swampy or wet land). You might encounter it in geography texts or classical descriptions of marshes.

Common words containing 洳 include: 洳河 (rù hé) — Ru River; 沮洳 (jù rù) — marshy; swampy; 洳水 (rù shuǐ) — Ru River.