About
As a phono-semantic compound, 昴 uses the semantic component 日 (sun/stars) to place it within astronomy, while the phonetic component 卯 provides its pronunciation. Its primary meaning is specifically the Pleiades star cluster, one of the lunar mansions in traditional Chinese astronomy. The use of the sun radical aligns with its celestial function, and the character has remained an astronomical proper noun without developing common alternative meanings.
Etymology Hide
