Definitions
quail-like bird
Etymology
About
The character "鷃" is structured as a phono-semantic compound, combining the semantic component "鳥" meaning bird with the phonetic component "晏" indicating its pronunciation. Historically used to denote a specific type of small bird, often identified as a quail or similar species, the character appears in early Chinese texts like the Zhuangzi where it describes a diminutive bird contrasted with larger avian forms. Its meaning has remained consistently ornithological, focused on this particular bird, while its structural composition has not altered in traditional orthography.