Definitions

xiāng feather cockscomb; Celosia argentea

Etymology phono-semantic

plant

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

(xiāng) belongs to the vast set of Chinese characters devised to name plants, combining the grass radical (cǎo) at the top with the phonetic (xiāng) below. The radical marks it as a botanical term, while the phonetic supplies the pronunciation without adding semantic content. Historically and today, appears almost solely in the compound 青葙 (qīngxiāng), the Chinese botanical name for Celosia argentea, an herbaceous plant with feathery flowers used in traditional medicine. The character thus acts as a specific label for this plant within the lexicon.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern