yǐ
蛾
archaic variant of 蚁 (ant)
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 5 examplesnoun
archaic variant of ant
archaicThis reading is only used in classical Chinese and literary texts, now mostly replaced by 蚁.
Gǔ古
jí籍
zhōng中
“
é蛾
”
cháng常
yòng用
lái来
zhǐ指
dài代
mǎ蚂
yǐ蚁
。
In ancient texts, "蛾" was often used to refer to ants.
Zài在
bù部
fèn分
gǔ古
hàn汉
yǔ语
zhù注
shì释
lǐ里
，
é蛾
tōng通
yǐ蚁
。
In some classical Chinese annotations, "蛾" is a phonetic variant of 蚁.
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é蛾
shù术
chū出
zì自
《
Lǐ礼
Jì记
》
，
yuán原
zhǐ指
mǎ蚂
yǐ蚁
de的
xí习
xìng性
。
"E shu" comes from *The Book of Rites*, originally referring to the habits of ants.
Bù部
fèn分
shī诗
cí词
zhōng中
yòng用
é蛾
lái来
jiè借
dài代
mǎ蚂
yǐ蚁
de的
yì意
xiàng象
。
Some poems use "蛾" as a literary stand-in for ants.
Zhè这
duàn段
gǔ古
wén文
zhōng中
de的
“
fēi飞
é蛾
”
shí实
wéi为
“
fēi飞
yǐ蚁
”
。
The "flying moth" in this ancient text is actually "flying ants".