Taxonomy of meanings for 鮮:　　

  • 鮮 xiān (OC: sen MC: siɛn) 相然切 平 廣韻：【鮮潔也善也又鮮卑山因爲國号亦水名水經曰北鮮之山鮮水出焉又姓後蜀録李壽司空鮮思明又漢複姓鮮于氏 】
    • FRESH
      • nsubjectfresh edible things, fresh food
      • nabstativebeing fresh
      • vadNfresh
      • vibe fresh, pure, and new, unstale
      • vichangeturn fresh
      • vifigurativeaesthetically fresh and transparent; translucent and clearCH
    • FISHES
      • nsmall fish
  • 鮮 xiǎn (OC: sqenʔ MC: siɛn) 息淺切 上 廣韻：【少也 】
    • RARE
      • vadVrarely, in only a few cases
      • vibe rare, be sparseCH
      • grammaticalised>FEW
        • nprosubjectarchaic: few (opp 靡不 "all")
        • vielevated style?: be few and far between; be sparse, be scarce, be few; be a rare case 不鮮 "be not so few"; 天下鮮矣 "there are few under the sun".
        • vtoNobject=preposedhave little of
        • npro{OBJ}+Vtfew of the objects
        • vtoNhave little of; be short of
  • 鮮 xiàn (OC: sens MC: siɛn) 私箭切 去 廣韻：【姓也本音平聲 】
  • xiānBRIGHT
    • vichangefigurative: brighten up with fresh light of sensibilityCH
  • xiānFISH

    Additional information about 鮮

    說文解字: 【鮮】，魚名，出貉國。 〔小徐本「名」作「也」。〕 从魚、羴省聲。 【相然切】

      Criteria
    • OFTEN

      1. The current general word for high frequency of an event within a certain period of time is shuò 數 " several times in a row" (xī 希 "rarely").

      2. Lu# 屢 "quite a few times" (ant. hǎn 罕 "very seldom") indicates that an event has many precursors similar to it in the past, and the word does not emphasise the high frequency.

      3. Qì 亟 and pín 頻 "very often" (ant.* ǒu 偶 "on and off") are probably more intensitive than shuò 數.

      4. Zòu 驟 "repeatedly, within a short period of time" (ant. shū 疏 "at long intervals") is more temporary in nature.

      5. Cháng 常 (ant. xiǎn 鮮 "quite rarely, in the natural course of events") refers to fequency as a symptom of something being ordinary and only to be expected.

      6. Duō 多 (ant. shǎo 少 "a few times, few times") is a colourless word indicating that something is of generally frequent occurrence.

    • ROTTEN

      1. The current general word for rottenness is fǔ 腐 (ant. xiān 鮮 "still fresh").

      2. Xiǔ 朽 (ant. xīn 新 "fresh") typically refers to the rottenness of trees or bones.

      3. Mí 糜 (ant. jiān 堅 "firm and unrotten") and the Han words làn 爛 emphasise the unretrievable state of complete rottenness.

      4. Bài 敗 (ant. gù 固 "firm and unimpaired") focusses on radical or essential changes brought about by the rotting process.

      5. Něi 餒 (ant. xiān 鮮 "still very fresh") refers specifically to the rottenness of fish.

    • FRESH

      1. The current general word for freshness is xiān 鮮 (ant. fǔ 腐 "gone off, rotten").

      2. Shēng 生 (ant. shú 熟 "cooked") refers to something that has not undergone any form of cooking and remains entirely free from treatment with heat.

      3. Xīn 新 (ant. chén 陳 "stale") refers to something that is fresh and new and still at its best, not having gone off, and not having starting the process of rotting away.

    • FISH

      1. The common general term for a fish is yú 魚.

      2. Lín 鱗 can be also used as a general term for a fish, because the body of a fish is covered with scales (lín 鱗 ).

      3. Xiān 鮮 is a fairly rare general term for a fish.

      4. Jīng 鯨 (traditional reading qíng) refers to a whale. See FISHES

      5. Shā 鯊 refers to a shark.

      6. Guān 鰥 is the kind of a very large fish living in rivers and lakes. It has a long and narrow mouth and moves alone.

    • FEW

      1. The current general word referring to the relatively small number or the small amount of something is shǎo 少 (ant. duō 多 "many, much").

      2. Guǎ 寡 (ant. zhòng 眾 "numerous" and occasionally also duō 多 "large in quantity") typically refers specifically humans not being numerous as opposed to larger groups of humans, but the word comes to refer also to any quantity being relatively large ( 五穀多寡 "the relative abundance of grain") and I have not found a systematic difference in nuance with shǎo 少 when the word is so used, except for the generally subjective intuition that guǎ 寡 being the dominant word in early times, perhaps retained a somewhat more dignified stylistic value throughout.

      3. Fá 乏 and kuì 匱 (ant. zú 足 "enough") refer specifically to the shortage of something one definitely needs more of.

      4. Xī 希 / 稀 and the more archaic xiǎn 鮮 refers to sparsity of distribution.

      5. Jiǎn 減 (ant. zēng 增 "increase") refers specifically to the reduction of the amount of the number of something. See also DIMINISH.

    • RARE

      1. The current general word for seldom is hǎn 罕 (ant. lu# 屢 "fairly often), which tends to refer to a very low fequency of occurrence of something.

      2. Xiǎn 鮮 (ant. cháng 常 "frequently, in the natural course of events") refer to a dramatic degree of scarcity.

      3. Xī 希 / 稀 (ant. shuò 數 "repeatedly, many times, several times") refers to relative scarcity or sparseness both in time and in space.

      4. Shǎo 少 (ant. duō 多 "often") is a colourless word frequently used to indicate non-specifically that something is not often seen.

      Word relations
    • Ant: (FEW)多/MANY The dominant word referring to numerousness and a large quantity of a stuff is duō 多 (ant. shǎo 少).
    • Epithet: (FISH)小/SMALL The dominant quite general word is xiǎo 小 (ant. dà 大 "big"), and this word refers to both physical size and abstract importance.
    • Synon: (FEW)寡/FEW Guǎ 寡 (ant. zhòng 眾 "numerous" and occasionally also duō 多 "large in quantity") typically refers specifically humans not being numerous as opposed to larger groups of humans, but the word comes to refer also to any quantity being relatively large (五穀多寡 "the relative abundance of grain") and I have not found a systematic difference in nuance with shǎo 少 when the word is so used, except for the generally subjective intuition that guǎ 寡 being the dominant word in early times, perhaps retained a somewhat more dignified stylistic value throughout.
    • Oppos: (FEW)未之有/NEVER