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滓 is a phono-semantic compound: the left side is the water radical 氵, signaling the semantic field, and the right side is 宰, a phonetic component that provides the pronunciation zǎi, which shifts to zǐ in this character. The original meaning refers to dregs, sediment, or solid residue that settles at the bottom of a liquid after filtering or natural settling. Over time, the meaning broadened metaphorically to include societal dregs, refuse, or any unwanted leftovers once the valuable parts have been extracted. The water radical directly grounds the character in the domain of liquids, where such impurities typically accumulate and are separated.
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