Chinese character 蟝

An older insect name; also part of a Cantonese word for toad.

The early Chinese dictionary 《說文》 records 螶 as an insect name and gives a mayfly-like gloss. 《爾雅》, an early Chinese reference work, uses 渠略 for that mayfly. Later rhyme books and dictionaries list 蟝 as a form of 螶. The same mayfly term is recorded as 螶𧎾, with 蟝𧎾 as a variant spelling.

In Cantonese, 蟝 appears in 蠄蟝, a word for toad. That meaning belongs to the whole compound; 蟝 is not a general synonym for toad.

Which reading fits 蟝 here?

The surrounding characters and language decide which trail fits.

In an older dictionary entry tied to 螶, the insect-name sense is relevant; in Cantonese 蠄蟝, the full word means toad. A lone 蟝 does not reveal which setting is intended, so ask for the surrounding text or language before interpreting it as a message.