About
The character 鲔 (wěi), traditional form 鮪, is a phono-semantic compound used for large fish species. Its semantic radical 鱼 (yú) on the left indicates it is a fish, while the phonetic component 有 (yǒu) on the right provides the pronunciation. Historically, it referred to the sturgeon in ancient Chinese texts, often appearing in poetry and records of royal banquets. In modern usage, however, the character almost exclusively denotes the tuna, a commercially important saltwater fish.
Etymology Hide
