翡
- kingfisher;
- bright green color;
Etymology
A phono-semantic compound composed of:
羽 — semantic component meaning “feathers; bird”;
非 — phonetic component indicating the sound (비 / fěi).
The character refers to a bird with distinctive colored feathers, particularly the kingfisher.
Semantic development:
- kingfisher (a bird with bright feathers);
- green-blue feather color;
- jade or jade-like green color.
Usage in Korean
비취 (翡翠) — jadeite; emerald-green jade
Although 翡 alone means kingfisher, in practice it most often appears in the compound 翡翠, referring to jade with a greenish color.
Additional notes
Words that derived from 翡
翡
물총새
비
mulchongsae
bi
Kangxi radical:124, 羽 + 8
Strokes:14
Unicode:U+7FE1
Cangjie input:
- 中卜尸一一 (LYSMM)
Composition:
- ⿱ 非 羽