About
The character 杞, constructed from the semantic radical 木 denoting wood and the phonetic component 己, originated as a pictophonetic term for a particular tree, specifically the wolfberry species. Its primary meaning, directly inferred from this structure, initially centered on the tree itself but gradually extended to encompass its fruit, evident in compounds like 枸杞 for the goji berry. Concurrently, 杞 functioned as a toponym for a minor Zhou dynasty state, a usage that endured in the literary idiom 杞人忧天, where it alludes to unwarranted anxiety derived from an ancient parable, thus reflecting a semantic shift from concrete botanical reference to abstract cultural metaphor while retaining its original graphical composition.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我买了一些枸杞。
枸杞对眼睛有益。
他在院子里种枸杞。
杞柳可以用来编篮子。
杞县在河南省。
我们计划去杞县旅游。
枸杞的红色果实很鲜艳。
由于杞县盛产枸杞，当地经济得以发展。