How to Write 濯 (zhuó) — Meaning “to wash; to cleanse”

Imagine you are washing a bird's feathers (翟) with water (氵) to make them clean and bright. The feathers look glossy after you rinse them, just like the meaning of 濯—to wash and cleanse.

Pay attention to the right side 翟: it starts with 羽 (two 习 on top), then 隹 below—make sure 羽 uses two separate 习 and 隹 has four strokes. A common mistake is to shrink the water radical too much or to misplace the horizontal strokes in 隹.

濯 has water on the left and 翟 (feathers) on the right. 潘 also has water on the left but uses 番 (a grain-related component) instead. 滕 has a completely different structure with 月 (meat) on the top left and a longer bottom, and it means "to mount" or "to climb," not washing.

濯 is a formal, literary character rarely used in everyday speech. You might see it in phrases like 洗濯 (washing clothes or bathing) or 濯足 (washing one's feet), and in classical idioms or poetry—for example, 濯濯 describes a bare, clean mountain.

Common words containing 濯 include: 洗濯 (xǐ zhuó) — To wash; to cleanse (formal).; 濯足 (zhuó zú) — to wash one's feet; 濯濯 (zhuó zhuó) — clean and bright; bare.