Definitions

huì noise of bird's wings

Etymology

About

(traditional: ) is a phono-semantic compound: the semantic component (feather/wing) evokes birds in motion. Its right side, (simplified) / (traditional), serves as the phonetic indicator and provides structural balance. Throughout its history, the character's primary meaning has been the rushing or whirring sound produced by the rapid movement of birds' wings in flight. This highly specific onomatopoeic sense appears primarily in literary and poetic language to describe flocks of birds taking off or flying overhead, and it rarely extends beyond this specialized avian context into metaphorical usage.

Etymology Hide

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