About
The character 鏖 is a phono-semantic compound with the semantic radical 金 (jīn, metal) at the bottom and the phonetic component 鹿 (lù, deer) at the top. Originally, it referred to a bronze warming vessel or apparatus for slowly cooking meat over a fire. Its meaning later shifted from this culinary origin to denote a fierce, prolonged battle or bloody massacre with heavy casualties. Today, it appears primarily in the word 鏖战 (áozhàn), describing a bitter, hard-fought struggle on the battlefield or in intense competition.
Etymology Hide
