About
腴 is a phono-semantic compound originally referring to the soft belly fat of animals or humans. It pairs the semantic radical 月 ("meat, flesh", categorizing body parts) on the left with the phonetic component 臾 on the right. From that literal sense, the meaning extended to fertility and abundance, particularly in agricultural land. Today the character commonly describes rich, productive soil, and is also used metaphorically for plump, lush, or affluent conditions.
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