Origin

The character 藻 combines the grass radical at the top, which marks it as a plant, with the component 澡 below, which serves as a sound hint for the pronunciation. The bottom component originally relates to washing or cleansing, but here it simply guides you toward the "sou" sound rather than adding to the meaning. Together, these parts create a character for aquatic plants like seaweed and duckweed—water plants that are recognizable by their grass-like appearance.