lòu

leak

Originally written as , which depicts rainwater () leaking through a house roof (). The (water) component was added later to clarify the meaning.

Components
氵 meaning component

  Meaning component

shuishuǐ

  

water

is a component form of .

屚 sound,iconic component

  Sound Iconic component

lòu

  

to leak

Depicts rainwater () leaking through a house roof ().

Evolution

漏 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
漏 Clerical script Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical script

Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
漏 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
漏 Clerical script Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Clerical script

Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)
漏 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

lòu

leak, drip; funnel; hour glass; to leak; to divulge; to leave out by mistake; waterclock or hourglass (old)

Most common words with 漏
Freq.
Word
Meaning

to leak

漏洞

leak

泄漏

to leak

遗漏

to overlook

漏掉

to miss

Sources

李学勤《字源》p.1011, 1025

許進雄《新編進階甲骨文字典: 甲骨文發現120周年紀念版》p.204