Taxonomy of meanings for 乳:　　

  • 乳 rǔ (OC: njoʔ MC: ȵio) 而主切 上 廣韻：【柔也而主切三 】
    • BIRTH
      • viactgive birth to a child
      • vt(oN)give birth to (and foster up) the contextually determinate creature
      • vtoNgive birth to
    • BREAST
      • n(women's or men's) breast; animal's udder
    • DRINK
      • vt[oN]suckle milk (from mother's breast)
    • FEED
      • vadNfeeding; nursing (tigress) (frequent in 乳母"nurse")
      • vigive milk, feed children
      • vtoNZUO: feed the young (as tigress)
    • HATCH
      • viacthatch
    • MILK
      • nmmilk
    • NIPPLE
      • nccnipples 文王有四乳
    • BABY
      • POLISH
        • SOFT
          • WATER
            • BUBBLE
              • RESIN
              • PROTRUSION
              • SUMMIT

              Additional information about 乳

              說文解字: 【乳】，人及鳥生子曰乳，獸曰產。从孚、从 𠃉 𠃉 者，玄鳥也。《明堂月令》：玄鳥至之日，祠于高禖以請子。故乳从 𠃉 請子必以 𠃉 至之日者， 𠃉 春分來，秋分去， 開 生之候鳥，帝少昊司分之官也。 【而主切】

                Criteria
              • BIRTH

                [BASIC/MARGINAL]

                [FACT/PROCESS]

                [+FIG/LITERAL]

                [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

                1. Shēng 生 (ant. sǐ 死 "die") is a colourless general word for the fact of being delivered of offspring or for engendering offspring, and the word also has many derived and related meanings.

                [FACT], [+FIG], [GENERAL]; [[COMMON+]]

                2. Chǎn 產 can focus on the physical process of birth alone, but the word can connote the act of rearing or even breeding. See REAR.

                [LITERAL], [PROCESS]; [[COMMON]]

                3. Zì 字 is a rare very archaic word referring to the production of offspring.

                [ARCHAIC], [LITERAL]; [[RARE]]

                4. Yù 育 is a rare fairly archaic word for giving birth to and rearing offspring.

                [ARCHAIC], [LITERAL], [PROCESS]

                5. Rǔ 乳 viewS the act of giving birth as immediately preceding and linked to the feeding of what one has given birth to.

                [LITERAL], [MARGINAL], [PROCESS]; [[RARE]]

                4. Sū 穌 "be born again" belongs to the realm of religious discourse.

                [SPECIFIC]; [[RARE]]

              • BREAST

                1. The standard term for the breast is apparently rǔ 乳, but since the breast of the woman was exceedingly rarely referred to in the non-excavated literature, it is hard to be sure whether the word was not something of a taboo in dignified discourse. Only Zhuangzi breaks the taboo. See NIPPLE.

              • MILK

                1. The word for milk is rǔ 乳, but milk was not an important element of Chinese culture, and the earliest isolated occurrence of the word is in SHIJI.

              • CHEST

                1. The general word is xiōng 胸, sometimes written xiōng 匈 and refers to the entire upper part of the torso, including the breasts, but the word is colloquial in flavour and did not become current before Warring States times.

                2. Huái 懷 can be used to refer to the chest as a place where something is carried, and also as the seat of emotions.

                3. Yīng 膺 is the old word referring to the outer part of the chest, the part on which clothes are placed.

                4. Rǔ 乳 and the even rarer SONG colloquial word nǎi 嬭 can refer specifically to the female breasts.

                5. Yì 臆 is the inner part of the chest, the seat of the emotions, and often a metaphorical term for thoughts harboured in the heart, and in early texts the word is rare, occurring mostly in the combination xiōng yì 胸臆 "the breast as seat of emotion and thought".

                6. Lèi 肋 is an anatomical term for the sides of the chest and the ribs.　See RIB