About
The character "孥" is constructed from the components "奴", meaning slave or servant, and "子", meaning child, etymologically pointing to the concept of dependents within a household. In classical texts, it originally referred to one's children and was often extended to encompass the wife and children collectively as a familial unit. Over time, its usage contracted to focus more narrowly on progeny, and while it maintained this core meaning, the character became increasingly archaic, surviving mainly in literary or historical contexts rather than in everyday language.