About
The character 苣 is a phono-semantic compound. Its upper radical 艹 (cǎo, grass) indicates a plant or herb, while the lower component 巨 (jù, giant) provides the phonetic element. It is used chiefly in the names of leafy plants and vegetables, notably in the compound for lettuce and in terms for chicory and endive. In modern usage, 苣 rarely functions as a standalone word, instead serving as a bound morpheme that combines with other characters to form botanical nouns, a practice rooted in traditional taxonomy where specific plants were designated by pairing the grass radical with phonetic identifiers.
Etymology Hide
