About
The character 苋 (xiàn) is the simplified form of the traditional character 莧. It is a phono-semantic compound, with the grass radical 艹 at the top indicating its meaning as a plant, and the component 见 (jiàn) at the bottom providing its pronunciation. The simplified version replaces the traditional phonetic component 見 with its modern equivalent, 见. The character specifically refers to plants in the amaranth family, several varieties of which are cultivated for their edible leaves and seeds and are common vegetables in Asian cuisines.
Etymology Hide
