Dong Chinese dictionary

bō

waves

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 皮 represents the sound.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ

water

氵 is a component form of 水.

皮 Sound component

pí

skin

波 and 皮 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.波 /*pˤaj/
皮 /*m-[p](r)aj/

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

bō

waves, breakers; undulations; wave; ripple; storm; surge

Bō

Poland; Polish; abbr. for 波蘭|波兰[Bōlán]

Most common words with 波

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	波	wave
	波动	to undulate
	波士顿	Boston, capital of Massachusetts
	波兰	Poland
	宁波	Ningbo subprovincial city in Zhejiang

Component uses

Meaning component in 1 character (0 verified)

Sound component in 3 characters (1 verified)

Sources