禽

• Noun: Birds or fowl, often referring to them as a category or class of animals. In ritual or administrative contexts (e.g., //Zhou Li//), it frequently denotes game birds or those designated for sacrifice and consumption.
• Verb: To capture, seize, or take prisoner.
• Proper Noun: A surname.

• vs. 鳥 (niǎo): While both mean "bird," 鳥 is generally the broader, more common term; 禽 tends toward the categorical or collective.
• vs. 羽 (yǔ): 羽 refers to feathers, wings, or winged things in a poetic or elemental sense, whereas 禽 refers specifically to the animal as a biological or resource entity.

In early texts, 禽 is often used interchangeably with 擒 when meaning "to capture."

If an "avian" reading produces a nonsense result—particularly in military, legal, or hunting contexts—test the glyph as a verb meaning "to capture." The semantic link between "bird" and "capture" is deep-seated; early usage does not always maintain a strict boundary between the animal and the act of catching it.