Definitions

xiàng silkworm

Etymology phono-semantic

insect

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character "蟓" is a phono-semantic compound formed by the semantic component "虫", which categorizes it as an insect, and the phonetic component "象", which indicates its pronunciation. Historically, this character has been used in Chinese texts to denote the larva of the silkworm, and its meaning remains specifically tied to that insect. The structure of "蟓" consistently combines these two components in a left-right arrangement without alteration in its standard written form.