• 水玉みずたま — polka dots / water drops
• 飲み水のみみず — drinking water
• 湧き水わきみず — spring water
• 水族館すいぞくかん — aquarium
• 水着みずぎ — swimsuit
• 水道水すいどうすい — tap water

The character “水” is a pictograph of flowing water. It represents rivers, liquids, and the essence of water in both nature and everyday life. It’s also the element for Wednesday in the Japanese calendar.

水みずをください。
Please give me some water.

水道すいどうの 水みずは 飲のめますか。
Can I drink the tap water?

The most common reading of this kanji is “mizu,” meaning water. You’ll see it in words like mizutama (water drops / polka dots), mizugi (swimsuit), or wakimizu (spring water). The on-yomi reading “sui” is also common in compounds like suizokukan (aquarium) and suidō (water supply).