茹 (rú) — (bound form, literary) to eat
Definition
茹 (rú) is a literary, bound-form word for 'to eat' — never used alone. It appears in fixed phrases like 茹素 (eat vegetarian) and 茹毛饮血 (eat raw meat and drink blood).
bound form
(bound form, literary) to eat
Examples
- 茹。Tā men zài gǔ dài rú máo yǐn xuè.In ancient times they ate raw meat and drank blood.
- 茹。Lǎo nǎi nai yì zhí rú sù.The grandmother has always eaten a vegetarian diet.
- 茹。Tā huí yì qǐ dāng nián de rú kǔ suì yuè.She recalls the years of hardship and suffering.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss, plants
茹 has 艹, the plant part, above 如, which gives the sound. Its original sense is plant roots or a part of a plant.
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