Definitions
cellar
Etymology
About
The character 窌 (jiào) is a phono-semantic compound denoting a man-made underground structure. Its semantic component 穴 (cave, hole) sits atop the phonetic component 卯 (mǎo), which indicates the pronunciation. The primary meaning of 窌 is a cellar or subterranean vault used for storing grain or other provisions. The radical 穴 categorizes it as an excavation, and the character is closely related in meaning to the more common 窖 (jiào), which shares the same pronunciation and core sense of a storage pit.
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