Definitions

huán spoonbill; ibis; family Threskiornithidae

Etymology phono-semantic

bird

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

(huán), the simplified form of traditional , is a phono-semantic compound naming the ibis, a long-legged wading bird. The bird radical (from ) provides the semantic category, while the phonetic (qióng/huán) on the right gives the pronunciation. Etymologically, the character is a precise ornithological label, strictly designating various ibis species such as the crested ibis, and it functions as a specialized zoological noun in Chinese.