What does 洗 mean in Chinese?

洗 (xǐ) means "to wash" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 2.

How do you write 洗?

洗 is written with 9 strokes, starting from the 氵 (water) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 洗?

The radical of 洗 is 氵 (water, Kangxi radical #85). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 法, 海, 没, 河.

How many strokes does 洗 have?

The Chinese character 洗 has 9 strokes.

What HSK level is 洗?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 洗 is a character to recognise at HSK 2.

洗 (xǐ): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

洗

xǐ

to wash

HSK 2 character 9 strokes Radical: 氵 (water)

Quick Answer

洗 (xǐ) means "to wash" with 9 strokes, radical 氵 (water), HSK 2 on the new exam.

Full dictionary entry for 洗 →Animated stroke-order for 洗 →

Pronunciation

xǐ

Meaning

Primary: to wash

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

洗 does not appear in oracle bone script. It is a phono-semantic compound with 氵 (water) as the semantic radical and 先 (xiān, before) as the phonetic. 先 itself shows a foot (止) above a person (人), and this is relevant: the original meaning of 洗 is specifically to wash the feet.

Form evolution

The seal-script form shows three water drops on the left and a clear 先 on the right, with the foot-over-person structure of 先 still visible. Clerical script standardised the water radical into the modern three-stroke 氵 and flattened 先 into its current shape. The character has not changed meaningfully since the Han.

How the meaning evolved

The original narrow meaning was to wash the feet, a ritual act of welcoming guests in ancient China, distinct from 沐 (wash hair), 浴 (bathe the body), and 盥 (wash hands and face). Over time 洗 broadened to mean washing generally, absorbing the work of the more specific terms, and today covers everything from 洗手 (wash hands) to 洗衣服 (wash clothes) to 洗车 (wash a car).

Cultural note

The foot-washing origin survives in the compound 洗尘, literally 'wash off the dust,' meaning to hold a welcome banquet for a traveller, which preserves the ancient hospitality ritual. The idiom 洗心革面 (wash the heart and change the face) means to thoroughly reform oneself.