Mountain Chive Character

It names a mountain chive; it can also mean “fine” or “few.” In dictionaries, 韯 is a variant of 韱 used for 山韭, a mountain-growing chive or wild leek. The fine, slender, or few sense is another recorded use of 韱.

The Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese character dictionary, explains 韱 as 山韭. Its analysis uses 韭 to identify the plant category and 㦰 as a sound component.

Qin manuscript evidence records 韱. The Shuowen Jiezi gives its seal-script form, an early formal style of Chinese writing; the later dictionary Yupian lists 韯 as a variant of 韱.

Is 韯 the same as 韱?

Yes. 韯 is a variant form of 韱. Variant dictionaries list 韱 as the main form and 韯 as one of its written variants; the chive sense belongs to both.

Later lexicons also use 韱 for meanings associated with 纖: “fine,” “slender,” or “few.” 纖 is the traditional Chinese form; 纤 is its simplified counterpart. Japanese dictionaries record the plant reading やまにら, roughly “ya-ma-ni-ra”; Korean dictionaries record 셈, roughly “sem.”

How do I type 韯?

On Chinese keyboards, try Cangjie JILSM or Pinyin xian. Cangjie reference tables list JILSM for 韯; a Pinyin search for xian may show 韱 first, since dictionaries treat it as the main form.

Fonts can draw this uncommon character with small stroke differences across devices and browsers. A changed rendering is a display difference, not a new meaning.