菧

dǐ

底 + 艹

Definitions

dǐ stibene

Etymology

About

菧 is a phono-semantic compound: the grass radical 艹 sits above the phonetic component 氐 (dǐ). Together they point to a specific botanical subject. The radical 艹 grounds the meaning in vegetation, while 氐 gives the reading dǐ. In classical literature, the character named a particular herbaceous plant or described the thick subterranean root systems of certain plants. Owing to its highly specialized usage, it is rare, occurring mainly in ancient agricultural catalogs, pharmacological records, and classical texts documenting regional flora and their traits.

Related Characters

Component: 底