隼

sǔn

falcon; aquiline (nose)

Meaning

  • Ornithological: A falcon or raptor.
  • Physiognomic: Aquiline or hooked, used almost exclusively to describe the profile of a nose.

Grammar and usage

  • Functions as a noun or modifier.
  • Does not function as a verb; if it appears in a verbal position, consider an omitted verb (e.g., "to keep" or "to employ") or re-examine the glyph identification.

Distinctions

  • In many texts, the distinction between 隼 and 鷹 (hawk) is fluid; however, where a distinction is maintained, 隼 typically denotes the smaller, faster species.

History and forms

  • Tang-period reading: suǐn.
  • Recognized graphical variants: U+9DBD and U+9D7B.

Graphical notes

  • The component 夋 serves as a phonetic marker; it does not contribute semantic value (e.g., "slowness") to the glyph.

Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.