沈

Glyph origin
In the oracle bone script, it was an — to submerge a sheep into the water (as a form of sacrifice to the river god). Other forms included or  instead of.

Starting from the bronze inscriptions, it became a.

This character was later borrowed to signify the surname, and the variant was adopted for the original meaning.

Definitions

 * 1)  ritual sacrifice in which animals are submerged in water
 * 2)  put poison in liquid
 * 3) sixty-fourth tetragram of the Taixuanjing, "sinking" (𝍅)
 * 1) sixty-fourth tetragram of the Taixuanjing, "sinking" (𝍅)
 * 1) sixty-fourth tetragram of the Taixuanjing, "sinking" (𝍅)

Definitions

 * , a state during the Zhou dynasty and located in modern-day Henan

Kanji

 * 1) sink
 * 2) be submerged
 * 3) subside
 * 4) be depressed
 * 5) aloes

Etymology 1
From.

Etymology 2
From.