Definitions
(of a bird) to fly swiftly; to swoop
Etymology
About
The character "鴥" is a phono-semantic compound composed of the semantic radical "鳥" denoting bird and the phonetic component "穴" which historically indicated its pronunciation. It first appeared in early Chinese literary works such as the Shijing, where it was used specifically to describe the swift flight of a bird. Over time, the character's meaning has consistently been associated with rapid avian movement, maintaining this narrow semantic scope in classical and literary contexts without broadening into other usages.
Etymology Hide
