Definitions
to lower a coffin into a grave
Etymology phono-semantic
hole
Semantic:
穴
About
窆 (biǎn) is an archaic phono-semantic compound denoting the somber, deeply respectful act of lowering a coffin into a grave during a funeral. It combines the semantic radical 穴 (xué, 'cave' or 'pit'), evoking the excavated burial pit, with the phonetic 乏 (fá, 'lack' or 'tired'), which supplies the sound but not the grim meaning. Historically, it was reserved for formal elegies, historical texts, and classical poetry to denote the final, decisive act of interment, focusing narrowly on the physical logistics of lowering the coffin rather than on death or mourning in general. In modern Chinese, it is virtually obsolete in everyday language, surviving only in academic or literary discussions of ancient funerary rites.
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