Chinese character for chicken

It means “chicken”; phrases can add a second reading. In Mandarin it is pronounced jī, with a steady high tone. In 鸡肉 (“chicken meat”) or 鸡蛋 (“egg”), it names the animal or food.

What does 吃鸡 mean in a message?

Usually literal in food; 吃鸡 can celebrate a game win.

The phrase literally means “eat chicken.” In Chinese gaming talk it can mean winning a battle-royale match, where players compete to be the last one standing. It came from PUBG’s Chinese victory line 大吉大利，今晚吃鸡 (“good fortune, tonight eat chicken”) and had spread into wider online talk by 2018. That reading belongs to the phrase, not to a lone 鸡; check the surrounding words and the sender’s Chinese variety.

Where does 鸡 come from?

It evolved from older writing for the bird. Earlier forms appear in divination inscriptions on bones and in writing on bronze vessels from the late-Shang period. The traditional form 雞 uses 隹 as the bird component and 奚 as a sound component; simplified 鸡 descends from that written tradition.

The rooster’s crow marked dawn and was linked in classical Chinese texts with moral qualities. In Chinese zodiac tradition, the rooster is associated with 酉, one of the earthly branches used in the calendar. That is a cultural link, not a shared written origin.