CJK Character 穎

穎 starts with the tip of a grain plant and widens into “sharp” or “gifted” talent. In Chinese, its signature idiom is 脫穎而出: talent breaking out from obscurity. 颖 is the simplified Chinese counterpart; Japanese dictionaries retain 穎 as エイ.

Text symbol

What 穎 means

Its earliest dictionary sense is the end of a grain stalk. A Fudan paleography study discusses possible oracle-bone forms but leaves their link to later 穎 unresolved. The Han-era Shuowen Jiezi tradition calls it 禾末, “grain’s end”: an agricultural label, not praise.

The meaning then widened to any pointed tip, including an awl or brush, and to incisive talent. In the Shiji story of Mao Sui, 穎脫而出 casts a hidden person’s ability as the point that forces its way out.

禾 supplies the grain sense and 頃 supplies the sound in the traditional analysis. Japanese dictionaries retain the botanical and cleverness senses as エイ; simplified Chinese writes 颖.

Who writes 穎

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Combination ideas

A hidden talent forces its way into view.

Questions people ask

Why does 穎 show as a box on some devices?

Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.