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In the oracle bone script, it was an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 水(“water”) + 羊(“sheep”) — to submerge a sheep into the water (as a form of sacrifice to the river god). Other forms included 牛 (“ox”) or 玉 (“jade”) instead of 羊.
Starting from the bronze inscriptions, it became a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'um, *l'ums, *hljumʔ) : semantic 水(“water”) + phonetic 冘(OC *lu, *lum).
This character was later borrowed to signify the surname, and the variant 沉 (OC *l'um) was adopted for the original meaning.
Etymology 1
For pronunciation and definitions of 沈 – see 瀋 (“liquid; juice; to pour; etc.”). (This character is the simplified form of瀋).
Notes:
Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore.
In the third year's spring, Zhuangshu gathered the various princes' armies and attacked Shen, because it had submitted to Chu. Shen was routed. Whenever the people deserted their superiors, it's called "rout"; when superiors do so, it's called "desert".
