Definitions
quail-like bird
Etymology
About
The character 鷃 is a phono-semantic compound, pairing the bird radical 鳥 (niǎo) with the phonetic component 晏 (yàn) in the common pattern for Chinese bird names. Its primary meaning is the quail, a small, ground-nesting game bird. In classical literature, poetry, and philosophical works, most notably the Zhuangzi, it frequently serves as a symbol of smallness or localized contentment, often contrasted with the grand aspirations of larger birds. The ornithological identification with the quail has held steady in both literary and biological contexts throughout its recorded history.
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