翡

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.

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.

The color associated with 翡 resembles the green-blue tones of jade and traditional Korean celadon (고려청자).

Related characters:

翠 — kingfisher; green; jade-like color

羽 — feather; wing

玉 — jade

碧 — deep green or blue-green color