About
The character "蜗", meaning snail, integrates the radical "虫" to signify its category as a creature and the component "呙" which primarily serves a phonetic function while also carrying an associative sense of curvature or winding, a concept more visually apparent in the traditional form "蝸" where the right-hand element "咼" reinforces this imagery of coiled forms. Originally denoting the snail itself, the character's semantic range expanded metaphorically over centuries, giving rise to compounds such as "蜗居" which describes a diminutive living space, directly drawing from the snail's compact spiral shell. Its structural consistency across time, with the radical clearly anchoring its meaning, has allowed the character to maintain a direct link to its zoological reference while accommodating figurative applications.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
花园里有一只蜗牛。
蜗牛爬得很慢。
下雨后，蜗牛出来了。
他的蜗居很小但温馨。
蜗牛背着重重的壳。
在都市中，许多人只能蜗居在斗室。
蜗杆传动机构常用于机械设计。
科学家研究蜗牛的黏液以开发新材料。