染 means “dye, stain, soak in”

そめる · someru

Also: color, paint

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): そめる, そまる, しみる, しみ
On'yomi (Chinese reading): セン

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 6 · 9 strokes

The story

Water (氵), nine (九) and a tree (木): picture cloth dipped nine times in dye boiled from bark. 染める is to dye, 染み is a stain, and 感染, infection, is sickness seeping into the body the way dye soaks into cloth.

Used in 染める (someru, to dye), 感染 (kansen, infection), and 染み (shimi, stain)

染 means “dye, stain, soak in”

The story

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