浸透

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 浸透 is read as しんとう and means physical penetration by a liquid or the spread of an idea.
• Basic usage: It describes rainwater seeping into soil and, abstractly, a new way of thinking spreading through a generation.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Liquid seeping in
  • 土の中へ浸透する describes rainwater gradually penetrating into the soil. Example: 雨水がゆっくり土の中へ浸透していきます。
• An idea spreading
  • 世代に浸透する is not physical penetration; it describes a way of thinking beginning to spread among that generation. Example: 新しい考え方が若い世代に浸透し始めました。