㳄
xián

spit, saliva

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approved by Prismcool · Feb 14, 2026, 04:50 PM · Reviewed by Prismcool on Feb 14, 2026, 04:50 PM

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Depicts drops of spit (氵) coming from an open mouth (欠).

Components

氵
氵 Iconic component

氵 is a component form of 水.

欠
欠 SoundIconic component

Depicts a person with an open mouth.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartzjens-N-qa[r] saliva (from envy?)
zjens-N-qa[r] spittle

說文解字

《說文》：“，慕欲口液也。从欠，从水。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)