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The character 篲 is a phono-semantic compound that originally designated a broom, specifically one constructed from bamboo or similarly stiff plant fibers. It is written with the bamboo radical ⺮ on top, signaling that the implement was typically made of bamboo. The lower element, 彗, acts as the phonetic and is also an early pictograph of a broom, so the character redundantly conveys its meaning through both components. Over the centuries, simpler characters such as 扫 and 帚 replaced 篲 in common use, and it now appears only in classical Chinese literature and specialized historical works describing ancient household utensils.
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