乳 rǔ breast
breast; nipples; milk; to suckle
How it came to be
象形 · Pictogram
A drawing of the thing it means.
The oldest form shows a kneeling woman holding a child to her breast.
用法
- Breast / milk / to suckle: 哺乳 (bǔrǔ) to breastfeed, 乳制品 (rǔzhìpǐn) dairy products, 母乳 (mǔrǔ) breast milk.
- More formal/technical than 奶 (nǎi); 乳 heads medical and product terms, 奶 is the everyday spoken word.
- Also 'newborn/tender' by extension: 乳牙 (rǔyá) baby teeth.