忺

It means “to want” or “to feel pleased,” depending on context.

Its main sense is wanting, liking, or being inclined to do something. In literary use it can also describe pleasure or satisfaction, so the surrounding sentence decides which meaning fits.

An early book on regional speech, 方言, associates 忺 with the Qing–Qi area of ancient China and what people there liked or wanted. Later rhyme dictionaries connect that dialect sense with 杴, while later dictionaries also write it as 忺. Together, these records point to a written form shaped by regional speech and dictionary practice.

How should I read 忺 in an old text?

Read the words around it.

When an action follows 忺, it expresses wanting to do it. 不忺 + a verb means not feeling like doing it.

In a Song period lyric by the poet Li Qingzhao, 忺摘 is a variant reading for 堪摘 and means “wanting to pick.” In 情投意忺, the sense is positive: two people’s feelings and intentions match.

Should I use 忺 in a modern message?

Use it when literary or dialectal Chinese is expected.

A bare 忺 asks readers to recognize a rare literary character. It fits a quotation, a language discussion, or a deliberately archaic line; otherwise, use the modern word you mean.

In modern Cantonese dictionaries, 忺 is also recorded with the Jyutping reading him1 and a gloss like “happy”; Mandarin literary sources give the Pinyin reading xiān. Check the language and genre before treating either reading as a typo.