Origin

This character combines water (the three-dot radical on the left) with a component suggesting a seal or boundary on the right. The image is of water spreading beyond its usual limits or boundaries—when water floods, it spreads out wide and covers a large area. The two parts together convey the idea of something flowing outward and expanding across a wide space, which is why the character means "spread out" or "wide." Over time, this visual idea of water's expansive movement became the general meaning of spreading or becoming widespread.