透

Tap the pinyin to hear it

(bound form) to penetrate; to seep through; to tell secretly; to leak; thoroughly; through and through; to appear; to show

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

辶 meaning “walk” + 秀 sound ( xiù )

Components 辶秀

penetrate · Heisig RSH #776

秀 elegant + road

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
不透水	bù tòu shuǐ	waterproof; watertight; impermeable
透水性	tòu shuǐ xìng	permeability
不透气	bù tòu qì	airtight
密不透风	mì bù tòu fēng	sealed off; impenetrable
透平机	tòu píng jī	turbine
不透明	bù tòu míng	opaque
透通性	tòu tōng xìng	transparency (networking)
中乐透	zhòng lè tòu	to win in a lotto game
透明程度	tòu míng chéng dù	transparency
透明质酸	tòu míng zhì suān	hyaluronic acid; hyaluronan
透明度	tòu míng dù	transparency; (policy of) openness
透视学	tòu shì xué	perspective (in drawing)
透视法	tòu shì fǎ	perspective (in drawing)
半透明	bàn tòu míng	translucent; semitransparent
路透集团	Lù tòu jí tuán	Reuters group plc
没有不透风的墙	méi yǒu bù tòu fēng de qiáng	(idiom) no secret can be kept forever
透视画法	tòu shì huà fǎ	perspective drawing
透水	tòu shuǐ	permeable; percolation; water leak
透气	tòu qì	to flow freely (of air); to ventilate; to breathe (of fabric etc); to take a breath of fre…
透视图	tòu shì tú	perspective drawing

Characters sharing the sound component 秀 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
秀 sound part	xiù	elegant, graceful, refined; flowing, luxuriant
绣	xiù	to embroider; embroidery; ornament
锈	xiù	to rust, to corrode
莠	yǒu	weeds, tares; evil, undesirable