鸡蛋

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The Chinese word 鸡蛋 (jīdàn) for "egg" is composed of two characters: 鸡 (jī), meaning "chicken", and 蛋 (dàn), meaning "egg". The character 鸡 is a pictograph depicting a chicken, while the character 蛋 is a phonetic loan character that was originally used to represent the sound of the word "egg". Over time, the character 蛋 came to be used exclusively for the meaning of "egg", while the character 鸡 is now used to refer to chickens and other fowl.The word 鸡蛋 is first attested in the 11th century, and it has been used continuously ever since. It is the most common word for "egg" in Mandarin Chinese, and it is also used in other Chinese dialects and languages.The etymology of the word 鸡蛋 provides insight into the history of Chinese writing and the development of the Chinese language. It also illustrates the way in which Chinese characters can be combined to create new words and meanings.