About
The character 鹄, with its traditional form 鵠, is structured with 告 as a phonetic element and 鳥 (simplified to 鸟) as the semantic radical denoting bird. Initially referring specifically to a swan or large goose, the term later acquired an extended meaning in classical texts where it came to represent a target or aim, as seen in the compound 鹄的, derived from the historical use of such birds as marks in archery.
Etymology Hide
