About
Formed on a phono-semantic principle, 臌 pairs the semantic meat radical 肉 (⺼ on the left) with the phonetic 鼓 on the right. In traditional Chinese medicine, it denotes dropsy or edema: a physical swelling caused by fluid accumulating in tissues or the abdominal cavity. The phonetic 鼓 ("drum") suggests the visual symptom, the taut, swollen abdomen resembling a drum's stretched skin. Its use is largely limited to medical literature to describe this specific distension and related ailments.
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