Onyomi: リュウ, ル · Kunyomi: -なが.す, なが.す, なが.れ, なが.れる · Meanings: a sink, current, flow, forfeit
Kanji for a sink, current, flow, forfeit
Fast lookup with examples and clean stroke-order visualization.
Experience 流 in 3D! View the complete 3D Kanji model to understand its shape and stroke depth from every angle. Click the button below to see 流 in 3D and explore how each stroke forms this character.
Please support us by sharing!
流 is formed from the water radical 氵 on the left, and the character 㐬 (originally depicting movement or a stream) on the right. It represents water moving or flowing in a stream or river. From this image, 流 came to mean flow, current, circulate, or spread — anything that moves smoothly from one place to another.
流 shows water (氵) moving along a path, meaning to flow, circulate, or spread.
Picture a river (氵) flowing steadily along its path (㐬), moving everything along with it. That motion is 流.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 流 | りゅう | way, manner, style, fashion, mode | common JLPT-N1 Suffix |
| 流 | る | exile (second most severe of the five ritsuryō punishments) | Noun |
| 旒 | りゅう | counter for flags, banners, etc. | Counter |
| 流れ | ながれ | flow (of a fluid or gas), stream, current | common JLPT-N3 Noun |
| 流れる | ながれる | to stream, to flow (liquid, time, etc.), to run (ink) | common JLPT-N3 Ichidan verb, Intransitive verb |
| 流通 | りゅうつう | circulation (of money, goods, etc.), distribution | common JLPT-N1 Noun, Suru verb, Intransitive verb |
| 流域 | りゅういき | drainage basin, catchment basin, river basin, watershed, valley | common JLPT-N2 Noun |
| 流す | ながす | to drain, to pour, to run, to let flow, to flush, to shed (blood, tears), to spill | common JLPT-N3 Godan verb with 'su' ending, Transitive verb |
| 流行る | はやる | to be popular, to come into fashion | common JLPT-N2 Godan verb with 'ru' ending, Intransitive verb |
| 流石 | さすが | as one would expect, just as you'd expect (from), just like (someone) | common JLPT-N2 Adverb (fukushi), Na-adjective (keiyodoshi) |