饵

餌

ěr

耳 + 饣

Definitions

ěr pastry; food; to swallow; to lure; bait; lure

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 饣 represents the meaning and 耳 represents the sound. Simplified form of 餌.

Semantic: 饣 Phonetic: 耳

About

The simplified character 饵 is a phonosemantic compound: the radical 饣, a simplification of 食 'food', occupies the left side and indicates the meaning of nourishment, while the right-side component 耳 (ěr) gives the sound. The traditional form, 餌, preserves the unsimplified radical 食. In its earliest usage, 饵 referred to a kind of pastry or dumpling prepared from milled grain. Over time, the character's meaning shifted to denote bait, food deliberately placed to attract fish or animals for capture, and then extended figuratively to any form of enticement or temptation.

Etymology Hide

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

用鱼饵来钓鱼。

Yòng yú'ěr lái diàoyú.

Use bait to catch fish.

这个鱼饵很香。

Zhège yú'ěr hěn xiāng.

This fish bait is very fragrant.

他在鱼钩上挂好饵。

Tā zài yúgōu shàng guà hǎo ěr.

He baited the hook properly.

商人用优惠作饵。

Shāngrén yòng yōuhuì zuò ěr.

The merchant used discounts as a lure.

不要轻信骗子的诱饵。

Bùyào qīngxìn piànzi de yòu'ěr.

Don't easily believe a scammer's bait.

这款新产品是市场的香饵。

Zhè kuǎn xīn chǎnpǐn shì shìchǎng de xiāng ěr.

This new product is an attractive lure for the market.

投资高回报往往是陷阱的饵。

Tóuzī gāo huíbào wǎngwǎng shì xiànjǐng de ěr.

High-return investments are often the bait of a trap.

他的承诺不过是政治权谋的饵料。

Tā de chéngnuò bùguò shì zhèngzhì quánmóu de ěrliào.

His promises are merely bait in a political maneuver.

Related Characters

Component: 耳

Component: 饣

饵