About
The character 觫 features the semantic radical 角 (horn) on the left, which often relates to horned animals or bone-like structures, and the phonetic component 束 on the right. Its meaning, however, is not literal; 觫 is used almost exclusively in the compound '觳觫' to describe the violent trembling or shivering caused by extreme fear. The horn radical suggests the term originally evoked the terrified shaking of horned livestock being led to slaughter, capturing an animal’s physiological response to imminent danger.