About
The character 猊, primarily known from the compound 狻猊, entered the Chinese lexicon as a transliteration of the Sanskrit word "simha" for lion, through the transmission of Buddhist texts. Its structure is composed of the animal radical 犭 on the left, denoting its beast category, and the component 兒 on the right, which historically functioned as a phonetic indicator. While 猊 initially referred specifically to the mythical lion-like creature in Buddhist context, its application later broadened in classical literature to occasionally describe lions or other fierce feline beasts, though it remains largely dependent on the 狻猊 construct for its semantic definition.