Bird-of-prey character

An old Chinese character for a bird of prey.

The earliest record of this form is in Shuowen Jiezi, an Eastern Han dictionary compiled around 100 CE. Its entry places the character among bird names and calls it a bird of prey: it records the name of an animal, not a later emblem or chat shorthand.

Later references split: a Mandarin pinyin reading è connects it to 鶚, the osprey; another pinyin reading, yuān, links it to 鳶, the kite. A philological argument notes that their old pronunciations differ and suggests the kite link may stem from copying confusion. The dispute centers partly on a line attributed to Shijing, an ancient Chinese poetry collection: “匪鷻匪𪀝.” It pairs 𪀝 with another bird name, supporting a broad bird reading but not a modern species label. When quoting an old source, keep 𪀝 as written and follow its notes instead of silently replacing it with 鳶.