奄
How to Say
How to Write
Meaning: to castrate
💡 Imagine a big (大) person lying flat, barely alive—奄 means to cover or be weak.
Compounds
Character Story & Explanation
In a Beijing veterinary clinic, a farmer brings his rooster for castration, saying 'yān le tā' (阉了它). Note that 奄 (yān) originally meant 'to cover' or 'to castrate', but in modern Chinese, the more common character for castration is 阉 (yān). 奄 appears in words like 奄奄一息 (yǎnyǎn yīxī, 'barely breathing'), where it combines with 奄 to emphasize weakness, as the radical 大 (big) suggests someone lying flat.
Example Sentences
Common Compounds
Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up
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