About
腌 (yān or ā) refers to salting, pickling, or curing food, especially meat and vegetables, for preservation or flavor. It is a phono-semantic compound: the left component, the meat radical ⺼ (derived from 肉 "flesh"), points to an original connection with preparing animal products, while the right component 奄 (yǎn) supplies the character's pronunciation. Though the radical suggests meat, the meaning broadened over time to cover pickling or marinating any foodstuff, as in 腌菜 (yāncài), "pickled vegetables".
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