餒
hunger, spoil
Strokes16
Readings
On'yomi
- ダイ
- イ
Kun'yomi
- う.える
Meaning
餒 centers on the state of being without enough food: hunger. The 'spoil' sense is a natural extension, referring to food that has gone bad from lack of proper care or consumption.
Most common words using 餒
- 凍餒とうたい
privation
Study
Etymology
餒 combines the food radical 飠 with 妥, which likely contributes the sound. The character originally referred to hunger or starvation, and later extended to food spoiling.
Meaning mnemonic
The food radical 飠 beside 妥 (which looks like a person settling down) suggests food that has been left too long: it spoils, leading to hunger.
Reading mnemonic
For ダイ, imagine a person dying of hunger: die -> ダイ, and the spoiled food on the left offers no help.