About
猗 is a phono-semantic compound with the animal radical 犭 on the left, indicating a semantic link to beasts, and 奇 on the right, providing the phonetic component. Originally, it functioned as a noun for a castrated dog, a meaning directly tied to its radical. This zoological sense became archaic early on, and the character evolved primarily into a literary particle or an exclamation of admiration in classical texts. It also developed an adjectival use in classical poetry to describe vegetation as lush, long, and beautiful, a sense entirely separate from its structural origins.
Etymology Hide
