About
The character 樨 is a phono-semantic compound composed of the semantic radical 木, meaning 'tree' or 'wood', and the phonetic element 犀, which indicates the pronunciation. It denotes the sweet osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans), an aromatic tree prized for its fragrant blossoms. The radical places it in the botanical category, and the phonetic differentiates it from other tree names. Its meaning has remained stable, without semantic broadening. The character typically appears in the compound 木樨, an alternate name for the osmanthus flower, and occasionally serves as a culinary euphemism for scrambled eggs because the yellow petals resemble cooked egg curds.
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