About
The character 殚 (traditional 殫) functions as a phono-semantic compound, where the left-side radical 歹 contributes meanings of death, decay, or bringing something to an ultimate end, and the right-side component 单 (traditional 單) gives the sound. Throughout its history, the primary meaning has been exhaustion or depletion, using something up completely, and it frequently occurs in compound words referring to the total expenditure of energy, physical resources, or mental effort.
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