What 䳰 means
It is a rare written form of the Chinese bird-name 鴇. In Mandarin, that word is read bǎo, roughly “baow” with a low, dipping tone; it names a bustard, a large ground bird.
The Han period Chinese dictionary Shuowen Jiezi describes 鴇 as a bird and analyzes its form as a bird part plus a sound-bearing part. It cites the Classic of Poetry and Book of Rites, early Chinese works on verse and ritual. That entry attests the related bird-name form by the Han period, but does not date 䳰 itself; 䳈 is another recorded form.
In later Chinese usage, 老鴇 came to mean “brothel keeper,” based on an old, mistaken story about the bird’s mating. That derogatory sense belongs to the compound, not to 䳰 alone. Japanese 鴇 is read toki (roughly “toh-kee”) and names the crested ibis.
A rare historical form; the loaded brothel-keeper sense belongs to the compound 老鴇.
Do not use it to label a person; the related compound can be an insult.
Who writes 䳰
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Don't confuse it with
2
Questions people ask
1Why does 䳰 show as a box?
The selected font lacks this rare character. A font with CJK Extension A coverage, or an app that can display it, should show it.
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How to type or find 䳰
- Search it as
- 䳰 meaning · 䳰 variant 鴇 · bao · bao3 · bǎo · bustard · procuress · 鴇
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
䳰\4CF0Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.