Definitions
a stand for food at sacrifice
Etymology
Pictograph of a sacrificial altar for food.
About
The character 俎 historically refers to a small table, chopping block, or sacrificial stand used in ceremonies to hold meat. Structurally, it combines the left component 仌 (bīng), which visually resembles ice but here derives from an earlier depiction of meat pieces, with the right component 且 (qiě), originally a pictograph of a sacrificial altar. In classical texts, it often appears alongside ritual vessels like the tripod cauldron, denoting the preparation and presentation of sacrificial foods in state or ancestral rites. Over time, its meaning metaphorically extended to idioms describing someone utterly at others' mercy, akin to helpless meat on the chopping block. The character's conceptual foundation lies in ancient butchery and ritual food presentation.
Etymology Hide
