Definitions
old variant of 鵪|鹌[ān]
Etymology
About
The character "鶕" (ān) is a phono-semantic compound. The bird radical "鳥" (niǎo) indicates its meaning relates to birds, while "奄" (yǎn) provides the pronunciation. "鶕" is an historical variant of "鵪", which is used in the word "鵪鶉" (ānchún), meaning quail. This structure, combining a semantic radical with a phonetic component, is a standard method for creating characters for birds. The character refers specifically to the quail, with no abstract or metaphorical senses. Although "鶕" appears in some classical texts, the form "鵪" is now standard for this bird.