渉 means “negotiate, wade, cross”

しょう · shou

Also: ford, go cross, transit, ferry

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)
わたる
On'yomi (Chinese reading)
ショウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

Water (氵) and walking (歩): wading across a river, the oldest sense of 渉. Crossing to the other side became dealing with it: 交渉 is negotiation, 干渉 interference, and a company's 渉外 department handles outside relations.

Used in 交渉 (koushou, negotiation), 干渉 (kanshou, interference), and 渉外 (shougai, external relations)

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