哺乳

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 哺乳, read ほにゅう, combines feeding 哺 with milk 乳 to denote nursing or milk feeding.
• Basic usage: It refers to feeding milk or milk substitute to a young animal, as in 子猫に人工哺乳を行う.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Scope and context
  • Unlike 哺乳類, which names mammals as a class, 哺乳 is the act of nursing or milk feeding.