游

yóu

to swim, float, or drift; to wander or roam; leisure, play

Meaning

  • Aquatic: To swim, float, or drift.
  • Terrestrial: To wander, roam, or stroll; suggests movement without a fixed point or a lack of rootedness (e.g., the status of a guest or an exile).
  • Social/Psychological: Leisure, play, amusement, or detachment.
  • Philosophical: A state of effortless navigation of the world, avoiding entanglement with constraints.

Grammar and usage

  • Verb: Standard use (to swim, to roam).
  • Attributive Modifier: Describes a subject as lacking stability or fixation (e.g., a "wandering" spirit).

Distinctions

  • vs. 行 (xíng): 游 emphasizes the process and lack of tethering; 行 typically implies purposeful travel toward a destination.
  • vs. 漂 (piào): While both involve floating/drifting, 漂 usually implies being washed away or displaced by external force, whereas 游 is more often a choice or natural state.

Translator notes

In later medical or technical texts, this glyph may refer to the circulation of qi or blood; verify this sense via accompanying terminology.

Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.