秧苗 (yāng miáo) literally combines 秧 (yāng), meaning 'rice seedling' or 'young rice plant', and 苗 (miáo), meaning 'sprout', 'seedling', or 'young plant'. Together, they specifically refer to young rice plants that have been grown in a nursery and are ready to be transplanted into flooded paddies. This term is used almost exclusively for rice — not other crops — and emphasizes the delicate, early growth stage before field planting.

In Chinese agricultural contexts, 秧苗 carries cultural and seasonal weight: it appears in spring farming activities, poetry about rural life, and idioms like 秧苗青青 (yāng miáo qīng qīng, 'lush green seedlings'), symbolizing hope and renewal. While 苗 alone can refer to seedlings of many plants (e.g., 菜苗 cài miáo 'vegetable seedling'), adding 秧 restricts the meaning to rice only. The word is neutral in register and common in both spoken and written descriptions of farming.