Definitions

(wheat)

Etymology

Grain bearing fruit  also provides the pronunciation

About

refers to a hulless variety of highland barley, a staple crop grown extensively in high-altitude regions like the Tibetan plateau. The character combines (grain) on the left, marking it as a cereal, with (fruit) on the right, evoking the barley's fruiting head and giving the pronunciation. This grain is central to local foodways, ground into tsampa flour and fermented into traditional alcoholic beverages.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern