About
蚝 (along with its traditional form 蠔) is a phono-semantic character for the oyster, a type of bivalve mollusk. The semantic radical 虫 classifies it as a worm-like or invertebrate creature, including shellfish. Its phonetic component in the simplified script is 毛, which means 'hair' and suggests a hairy worm, while also cueing the pronunciation. The traditional variant 蠔 instead uses 豪 to provide the sound. The character's meaning is restricted to this marine animal and has no figurative applications.
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