Kanji: 沈 sink

JLPT N2 | 7 Strokes

Kanji Parts: 

• 氵 water [radical form of 水]
• 尢 crooked-leg

Etymology: 

If you are in the water 氵 and your legs are crooked 尢, you’ll likely sink.

Stroke Order:

Examples:

• 沈黙(ちんもく) silence; quiet
• 沈没(ちんぼつ) sinking; going down
• 沈思黙考(ちんしもっこう) being lost in deep thought

紅あかくして　黒くろき晩夏ばんかの　日ひが沈しずむ　

akaku shite / kuroki banka no / hi ga shizumu
Reddening and | black, late summer | the sun goes down

Haiku by Yamaguchi Seishi

• 俳句 － haiku poem
• 紅くして － red and… [紅く from 紅い (red); archaic language and only used in traditional poems, possibly comparable to 紅くて; 紅い and 赤い are both “red” but slightly different shade of red. The kanji 紅 is sort of more poetic than 赤 which is the regular red color; you might recognize this kanji from 紅茶 koucha (black tea)]
• 黒き － black [archaic or poetry version of 黒い]
• 晩夏の － in late summer [晩 (evening; night); 夏 (summer); 晩夏 is not a common word]
• 日 － the sun
• 沈む － sets; goes down; descends