鸨 (bǎo): bustard (bird)

Meanings

鸨是一种不善于飞、却善于跑的大鸟。

Bǎo shì yīzhǒng bù shànyú fēi, què shànyú pǎo de dà niǎo.

Bustards are large birds that are poor fliers but run well.

旧小说里把妓院的女主人叫老鸨。

Jiù xiǎoshuō lǐ bǎ jìyuàn de nǚ zhǔrén jiào lǎo bǎo.

In old novels the brothel madam is called 老鸨.

culture

Beyond the bird, 鸨 carries an old slang sense for a brothel keeper, fixed in 老鸨 (madam). The bird sense is the literal core.

radical

鸟 niǎo

bird

The bird radical 鸟 fixes the core meaning: 鸨 is a large ground-running bird, grouped with 鸡 and 鸭.

phonetic

匕 bǐ

spoon; ladle shape

The left piece is a stylized phonetic element; the sound has drifted far from the modern reading bǎo, leaving the bird radical to carry the meaning.

鸨 bǎo