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The character 莳, linked to its traditional form 蒔, is a phono-semantic compound. Its semantic radical 艹 (cǎo, grass) indicates a plant-related meaning, while the phonetic component 时 (shí, time) suggests the pronunciation. The character fundamentally means to plant or transplant seedlings, especially in contexts like rice cultivation or gardening. It is commonly seen in the compound 莳萝 (shíluó, dill) and appears in regional dialects and agricultural terms for the careful work of setting young plants into the soil.
Etymology Hide
