How to Write 㳄 (xián) — Meaning “saliva”

Picture a person yawning (欠) with drops of water (氵) dripping from their open mouth – that’s drool. This visual of a yawn producing saliva helps link the two parts to the meaning of saliva.

Write the three dots of the water radical (氵) first, then the 欠 component. For 欠, start with a short left‑falling stroke (撇), followed by a horizontal hook, a vertical hook, and finally a right‑falling stroke (捺). A common mistake is confusing the right side with 文 or 攵—remember 欠 has a distinctive hook stroke after the first slash.

All three share the water radical 氵, but the right side differs: 㳄 has 欠 (related to mouth), 氿 has 九 (meaning nine), and 汀 has 丁 (a nail or spike). Their meanings also differ: 㳄 means saliva, 氿 refers to a small spring or marsh, and 汀 denotes a sandbar or waterside.

㳄 is a rare variant of the more common character 涎 (xián) and appears in words like 流㳄 (drool) and 垂㳄 (to covet, as in 'salivate over'). You mostly encounter it in classical Chinese texts or old idioms, as modern writing prefers 涎. The idiom 垂涎欲滴 (literally 'drool about to drip') is still used to describe strong desire.

Common words containing 㳄 include: 流㳄 (liú xián) — drool; 㳄水 (xián shuǐ) — saliva; 垂㳄 (chuí xián) — to drool; to covet.