Chinese character 苲

Read the word or name around it: 苲 has no single fixed gloss.

In 苲草, it names an aquatic plant such as hornwort. In 土苲, it refers to earth mixed with manure and grass; the phrase can also mean waste or dregs. Dictionaries also record 苲 as a tool for pressing wine.

A geography entry in a history of China’s Later Han dynasty names 苲领山, a mountain; a Jin dynasty history records 定苲县, an old county. A later chronicle describes people gathering the plant from a city moat. These records preserve separate old words and place names, not one gloss that fits every use.