潜 means “dive, submerge, lurk”

もぐる · moguru

Also: conceal, hide, lower (voice)

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ひそむ, もぐる, かくれる, くぐる, ひそめる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 15 strokes

The story

Water (氵) and 替, two men (夫夫) over a sun (日): picture divers taking turns slipping under the surface. 潜る is to dive, a 潜水艦 is a submarine, 潜む is to lurk unseen, and 潜在 is latent, still hidden below.

Used in 潜る (moguru, to dive), 潜水艦 (sensuikan, submarine), and 潜在 (senzai, latent/potential)

More from Hidden & Hazy

• 覆 cover
• 披 open
• 虚 empty
• 顕 manifest
• 伏 lie face down
• 漠 vague
• 錯 mixed up
• 謎 riddle
• 匿 hide
• 妄 delusion
• 蔽 cover
• 曖 dim

Learn 潜 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.