How to Write 酦 (pò) — Meaning “to ferment”

Imagine a wine jar (酉) that starts "popping" (sounds like pò) as bubbles escape because the liquid inside is fermenting. The right part 发 looks like a person raising their arms in excitement over the successful fermentation.

The radical 酉 is written first: a horizontal top stroke, then vertical, then the box with two inner horizontals. The right side 发 begins with a curved stroke, then a dot, vertical, hook, and ends with a right-falling stroke (捺). A common mistake is writing the last stroke of 发 as a dot instead of a sweeping 捺.

The character 酌 has 勺 (spoon) on the right and means "to pour wine" or "to consider", not fermentation. 配 has 己 (self) on the right and means "to match" or "to distribute". 酦 uniquely refers to the chemical process of fermentation, especially in brewing.

This character appears mainly in specialized terms like 酦酵 (fermentation) and 酦醅 (unfiltered wine), often in scientific or traditional brewing contexts. It is not commonly used in everyday speech but might be seen in chemistry textbooks or descriptions of traditional Chinese wine-making.

Common words containing 酦 include: 酦酵 (pò jiào) — fermentation; 酦醅 (pò pēi) — unfiltered wine; 酦醅酒 (pò pēi jiǔ) — unfiltered wine.