About
The character 衾 is a phono-semantic compound that historically denoted a large blanket or thick quilt for sleeping. The lower structural component is the radical 衣, meaning 'clothing', which indicates that the item is made of fabric and serves to cover and warm the body. The upper component 今 is the phonetic element, giving the character its sound. Found primarily in classical texts, poetry, and historical idioms to evoke the atmosphere of a bedchamber, 衾 has largely been supplanted by more colloquial two-syllable words in modern spoken Chinese when discussing everyday bedding.
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