About
胝 (zhī) is a phono-semantic compound. The left radical 月, from the character 肉 meaning 'flesh', sets the semantic context of the body, while the right component 氐 (dǐ) provides the phonetic value. It has always named calluses, the thick, hardened skin patches that develop on the hands or feet from repeated manual labor or friction. This synthesis of a flesh signific and a phonetic element results in an exact anatomical term, one that has consistently avoided metaphorical extension.
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