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夭

yāo
verb #32,800

Meanings

  1. 1 to die young; to die prematurely
  2. 2 (literary) lush; flourishing (of vegetation)

Examples

他不幸早夭。
Tā bùxìng zǎo yāo.
He sadly died young.
桃之夭夭，灼灼其华。
Táo zhī yāoyāo, zhuózhuó qí huá.
The peach trees are lush and verdant, their blossoms burning bright. (Book of Songs)

Tips

history
The most famous appearance is 《诗经·桃夭》 ('Peach Tree Tender'), a wedding song from the Book of Songs (~1000 BCE). 桃之夭夭 ('the peach is lush') is also the source of the homophonous slang 逃之夭夭 (táozhīyāoyāo, 'to flee scot-free') — a pun where 桃 ('peach') was swapped for 逃 ('to flee').
memory
The character is 大 ('big/person') with the head bent forward — Shuowen says it depicts a body 'bending its head'. The 'bent/cut short' image carries into the meaning 'to die young'.

Stroke Order

夭 yāo