Definitions

liú old variant of 騮|骝[liú]

Etymology

About

is a phono-semantic compound combining the semantic radical (mǎ) 'horse' and the phonetic component (liú). It denotes a red horse with a black mane and tail, a precise color classification in historical equine terminology. The character appears in literary and agricultural texts and lacks significant metaphorical uses. This structure of a semantic category indicator paired with a phonetic element is common for characters naming specific animals. In contemporary Chinese, it is sometimes replaced by the simplified variant , which uses the simplified horse radical with the same phonetic.