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绺 is a phono-semantic compound character: the silk radical 纟 on the left relates to thread, textiles, or fine filaments and also provides the pronunciation "liǔ", while the right component 咎 (meaning "wrinkle") adds the idea of a twisted or tangled cluster, together evoking a wrinkle in a silk garment. The traditional form, 綹, uses the unsimplified radical 糸. Historically, 绺 was a specific measure word and noun for a skein of spun silk or a bundled cluster of threads. Its meaning later broadened to cover any small, bundled cluster of thin, flexible items, so it is now the standard term for a lock of hair, a tuft of animal mane, or a small bundle of fibrous material.
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