敖 (áo) — to roam, to wander (classical; now mainly used in compounds)

Definition

敖 is a bound classical verb meaning 'to roam or wander', used today almost only inside compounds like 遨游. It is a literary variant of 遨, not a standalone everyday word.

to roamto wander (classical; now mainly used in compounds)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 敖。
    Gǔ rén cháng áo yóu yú shān shuǐ zhī jiān.
    Ancient people often roamed among mountains and waters.
  • 敖。
    Tā dú zì áo yóu zài guǎng kuò de cǎo yuán shàng.
    He roamed alone on the vast grassland.
  • 敖。
    Zhè shǒu shī miáo xiě le shī rén áo yóu tiān xià de háo qíng.
    This poem describes the poet's heroic spirit of roaming the world.

Origin

Compound ideograph
六书liùshū
会意huìyì

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

It began as a picture of a person wearing a headdress; the parts now seen as 出 and 放 in 敖 are a later stylized misreading.

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