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瘿 (traditional form 癭) is a phono-semantic compound combining the semantic radical 疒, which indicates a disease or medical condition, with the phonetic 婴. In medical use, it denotes a goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland on the neck, as well as other localized tumors or swellings on the body. The meaning extends to botany, where it describes galls: abnormal growths on tree trunks or branches caused by insects or disease. Thus, both the medical and botanical senses share the underlying notion of an abnormal swelling or pathological growth.
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