diāo
蛁
cicada (archaic); to carve; a type of eagle
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 2 examplesnoun
cicada (in ancient texts)
archaicAn archaic, literary term found in classical Chinese texts. Not used in modern spoken language to refer to cicadas.
《
Shī诗
jīng经
》
yǒu有
yún云
：
“
wǔ五
yuè月
míng鸣
tiáo蜩
”
，
qí其
zhōng中
“
tiáo蜩
”
jí即
gǔ古
chēng称
zhī之
diāo雕
。
The Book of Songs says, 'In May the cicadas sing,' where 'tiáo' is the ancient term for 'diāo' (cicada).
Gǔ古
rén人
yǐ以
“
diāo雕
”
yù喻
xià夏
chóng虫
，
jīn今
rén人
duō多
yòng用
“
chán蝉
”
zì字
。
The ancients used 'diāo' to refer to summer insects; nowadays people mostly use the character 'chán'.