Definitions
(of a bird) to fly swiftly; to swoop
Etymology
About
The character 鴥 (yù) is a phono-semantic compound. Its semantic radical 鳥 (niǎo) indicates a meaning related to birds, while the phonetic component 穴 (xué) suggests the pronunciation. The character describes the swift, darting motion of a bird in flight. It appears mainly in classical Chinese poetry, such as the Book of Songs, to depict rapid avian movement, and has no common usage in modern Chinese outside of classical texts.
Etymology Hide
