About
滓 is a phono-semantic compound with the water radical 氵 on the left, providing the semantic category of liquids, and the phonetic component 宰 on the right, which originally gave the sound "zǎi" that evolved into the modern pronunciation "zǐ". Its primary meaning refers to the dregs or sediment that settle at the bottom of a liquid after filtering or settling. Over time, the sense extended metaphorically to mean any unwanted residue or societal impurities left after the valuable parts have been removed.
Etymology Hide
