Definitions
creel; fish basket
Etymology
About
A phono-semantic compound, 罶 combines the semantic radical 罒 (a reduced form of the net radical) above the phonetic 留. The net radical marks it as a woven trap, while 留 supplies the pronunciation and suggests the idea of keeping or detaining the catch. Historically, the character designated a specialized woven fish trap or creel used to capture and hold fish in flowing water. Its use is confined mainly to historical agricultural texts and poems depicting rural aquatic activities, and its meaning has remained stable without semantic expansion.
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