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醐 (hú) is a phono-semantic compound: the left-side radical 酉 (yǒu), a wine vessel, indicates alcoholic beverages or fermentation, and the right-side component 胡 (hú) gives the sound. It denotes an extremely refined, pure clarified butter, the richest skimming of milk. Because of its associations with supreme purity and refinement, the character appears primarily in the Buddhist compound 醍醐 (tíhú), where it metaphorically represents the essence of wisdom, ultimate truth, or supreme enlightenment.
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