About
The character 菏 is a phono-semantic compound: it places the grass radical 艹 (cǎo) above 河 (hé, 'river'), which is itself composed of the water radical 氵 and the phonetic component 可 (kě). Here, 河 both reinforces the meaning and supplies the pronunciation hé. Historically, 菏 was used as a geographical proper noun, naming the ancient He River and the Heze marshland. In modern Chinese, it appears almost solely in the name 菏泽 (Hézé), a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. Apart from this toponym, the character has no extended figurative meanings or common everyday usage.
Etymology Hide
Report an issue
Flag incorrect definitions, examples, etymology, etc.