About
The character 衾 is a phono-semantic compound historically meaning a large blanket or thick quilt for sleeping warmth. Its lower component, the semantic radical 衣, indicates it is a fabric covering for the body. The upper component, 今, provides the phonetic element. Found mainly in classical texts, poetry, and historical idioms to evoke a domestic bedchamber, it has largely been replaced in modern spoken language by more common bisyllabic words for everyday bedding.
Etymology Hide
