About
The character "馏" derives from its traditional form "餾", which combines the semantic component 食 (food) with the phonetic component 留 to indicate pronunciation. Initially denoting the culinary process of steaming or reheating food, particularly previously cooked dishes, the character's meaning later extended to encompass the scientific concept of distillation, as in the compound 蒸馏, where it describes the separation of substances through vaporization and condensation. This semantic expansion allowed the character to adapt from a specific kitchen technique to a broader technical term while retaining its core association with the action of applying heat to cause a phase change.
Etymology Hide
