Definitions

nǎn brisket, ribs; belly meat

Etymology phono-semantic

meat

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

is a phono-semantic compound that pairs the meat radical (written as on the left) with the phonetic on the right. It designates the belly or lower breast meat of an animal, known in cooking as brisket or flank. Originating in Cantonese dialects to distinguish this cut of beef or pork, the character later spread through regional cuisines into mainstream culinary vocabulary, where it now typically refers to slow-cooked dishes from that part.