Definitions
weeds
Etymology
About
葍 is a phono-semantic compound, with the grass radical 艹 at the top indicating its botanical category, and the element 畐 below providing the phonetic component. This character was historically created to denote a specific creeping plant, identified in modern botany as a type of bindweed or morning glory, and is frequently mentioned in ancient texts such as the Classic of Poetry. It refers to a wild vine that trails across fields, sometimes regarded as an agricultural weed, though its roots were noted as a famine food. The combination of the plant radical with the phonetic element allowed classical writers to distinguish this particular vine from other species documented in historical Chinese literature.
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