Taxonomy of meanings for 瘠:　　

Additional information about 瘠

說文解字:

Criteria
• RICH
  

  1. The general word for wealth is fù 富 (ant. pín 貧 "poor"), and the word has a remarkably wide range of syntactic roles.

  2. Sù fēng 素封 is an informal way of referring to substantial private wealth not conferred on one by the state.

  3. Zé 澤 "riches, rich benefits" (ant. kùn 困 "hardship") is largely limited to nominal usages and belongs to an elevated stylistic level.

  4. Yù 裕 "be generous to and make rich" (ant. jiǒng 窘 "impoverish") is marginal to the group.

  5. Ráo 饒 (ant. jí 瘠 "weakened and exhausted") refers to richness of land, and is thus also marginal to the group.

• FAT
  

  1. The current general word for sleekness or obesity is féi 肥 (ant. qū 臞 "emaciated", jí 瘠 "thin"), and it must be noted that the term has positive connotations in ancient China.

  2. Tú 腯 refers specifically to feisty fatness of animals.

  3. Zhī 脂 refers to the substance of grease or fat as such. See GREASE.

  4. Fēng 豐 refers occasionally to sleekness and richness as a positive attribute of well-nourished individuals.

  NB: Pàng 胖 refers to obesity with no positive connotations, and emerges probably in YUAN times.

• FERTILE
  

  1. The standard word for fertility of land is féi 肥 (ant. jí 瘠 "infertile"), and this refers to potentially fertile areas as well as to land already under cultivation.

  2. Ráo 饒 (ant. huāng 荒 "infertile") refers to the productive state of fields that are being cultivated.

  3. Wò 沃 (ant. què 埆 "infertile") is an archaising elevated word.

• SLIM
  

  1. The most current general word for skinniness is probably jí 瘠 / 膌 (ant. féi 肥 "fat").

  2. Qú 臞 (ant. rǎng 壤 [ 肉字旁 ]) refers to skinniness in humans.

  3. Léi 羸 refers to skinniness as a result of famine or of disease.

  4. Shòu 瘦 is rare in pre-Buddhist times, and refers generally to emaciation.

Word relations