Definitions

yōng (literary) cooked food; breakfast

Etymology phono-semantic

food

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

is a phono-semantic compound combining the semantic component ('food, eating') and the phonetic . Historically it denoted the morning meal (breakfast), in contrast to for the evening meal. The character also carries the broader sense of cooked food or dressed meat, often in official banquets or sacrificial offerings, thus linking its pronunciation to the semantic domain of food.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn (~700 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn (~700 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern