Definitions

jiǔ leek
jiǔ variant of 韭[jiǔ]

Etymology

Depicts chives growing from the ground.

About

The character "韭" is a pictograph whose form was designed to represent the appearance of a leek plant with multiple leaves emerging from a base. Its structure consists of a single graphical unit that does not incorporate separate phonetic or semantic components in its standard writing. Etymologically, the character has consistently denoted the leek or chive plant since its earliest documented use, and its core meaning has not diverged from this agricultural referent throughout the historical written record.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern