About
The character "睇" is structured with the semantic component "目" representing eye and the phonetic component "弟", originating in early Chinese with the specific sense of looking askance or casting a sidelong glance. Classical texts utilized it for this narrow meaning, but through historical usage in regional dialects such as Cantonese, its semantic range broadened to function as a general verb for seeing or looking. This shift in meaning contrasts with the consistent graphical form comprising "目" and "弟", which has not been subject to simplification.
Etymology Hide
