養

The core sense involves the provision of what is necessary for growth or maintenance, appearing across three primary registers:

• Material/Physical Support: Rearing children, husbandry of animals, and the financial support or maintenance of dependents and servants.
• Recuperative Care: Tending to the body during illness or injury; nursing, recovering, or preserving health.
• Cultivation (Internal/Spiritual): The "nourishing" of the mind (心), spirit (神), or virtue; the maintenance of a state of being, equilibrium, or moral center.

• Primary Function: Transitive verb.
• Secondary Function: Noun referring to "sustenance" or "maintenance."
• Nuance: In compounds, it may carry a causative sense—not merely providing food, but bringing the subject toward a specific state of maturity or health.

• vs. 育 (yù): While often paired (養育), 養 refers to the nourishment and provision that makes growth possible, whereas 育 focuses on birth, education, and the active shaping of that growth.
• vs. 撫 (fǔ): 撫 emphasizes comforting, stroking, or governing with a gentle hand; 養 emphasizes the material and systemic requirements for survival and growth.

// Tang-period reading: //iɑ̌ng.

• Simplified variant: U+517B.

Avoid over-reliance on the English "raise," which often implies only the transition from childhood to adulthood; 養 is an enduring process of maintenance. Depending on the register, consider "support" (familial/legal), "recuperate/nurse" (medical), or "nourish/cultivate" (philosophical).