Chinese character 蚼

Its old meaning changes with the compound. 《说文解字》, an early Chinese character dictionary, glosses 蚼犬 as a northern man-eating creature. In 《山海经》, an ancient account of unusual places and beings, 蜪犬 is described as blue and doglike and said to begin eating at the head. This is a legendary creature description, not a general word for dogs.

The old regional glossary 《方言》 identifies 玄蚼 and 蚼蟓 as names for 蚍蜉, a large ant. Later dictionaries also record a silkworm-larva sense and a turtle name. When translating 蚼, follow the source compound or dictionary entry; the bare character does not settle which sense applies.