Definitions
fruit of plants (not of trees)
Etymology
About
The character 蓏 is structurally composed of the grass radical 艹 positioned above the component 瓜, meaning melon, which explicitly denotes a plant yielding melon-like fruits. Etymologically, it originated to classify edible fruits produced by herbaceous vines or creepers, as distinguished from those growing on trees. Its meaning has consistently referred to melons and gourds throughout historical texts, with no substantial semantic shift, though the character itself has seen declining general use over time.
Etymology Hide
