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泯, the simplified form of 冺, is a phono-semantic compound: the water radical 氵 points to liquid or dissolving, while 民 gives the sound. Its original meaning was water vanishing by drying up or seeping into the ground, and this image of physical disappearance extended to abstract senses of being wiped out, obliterated, or lost. The character is now commonly used for the eradication of traces, memories, or conscience.
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