Definitions
blessings
Etymology
About
The character 礽 is a phono-semantic compound, formed by the semantic radical 礻 (a variant of 示, relating to spirits, altars, or ancestral veneration) and the phonetic component 乃. In classical Chinese, it primarily denotes happiness or spiritual blessings bestowed by ancestors. This connection to ancestral rites also led to a specific kinship meaning: a descendant of the eighth generation. The phonetic element 乃 originally depicted breath or vapor, though this pictorial origin does not directly affect the character's core meanings of blessings or distant lineage.