劓

The amputation of the nose, specifically as a state-sanctioned corporal punishment (one of the "Five Punishments").

May function as:

• Transitive verb: to amputate the nose of someone.
• Noun: the penalty itself.
• Nominal/Substantive: a person who has undergone this punishment.

This is a specific legal term and not a general-purpose verb for "cutting" or "slicing" (distinguish from 切 or 斬). It frequently co-occurs with other penal terminology, such as branding/tattooing the face (黥), ear amputation, or terms for law (法), punishment (刑), and crime (罪).

Semantic variant: U+34F7.

The choice of this glyph over a general term for injury signals a legal or punitive context. Beyond the physical act, it carries connotations of social erasure and permanent criminal status. In texts discussing state cruelty or Confucian critiques of Legalism, it serves as specific evidence of "harsh" (殘) governance.