迺

nǎi

西 + 辶

Definitions

nǎi variant of 乃[nǎi] (used as a surname, in given names or in place names)

Etymology

About

迺 (nǎi) is a classical grammatical particle composed of the movement radical 辶 (chuò), which wraps around the left and bottom, enclosing the phonetic component 西 (xī). Originally, the character conveyed an action of moving or advancing forward; however, it was eventually borrowed solely for its sound to serve as a direct variant of 乃 (nǎi). In classical Chinese, it functions as a conjunction meaning 'then,' 'thus,' or 'to be,' mirroring 乃, and its use is entirely confined to classical texts, historical documents, and formal calligraphy, with no role in modern conversational grammar.