About
The character 酯 (zhǐ) is a modern phono-semantic compound created to translate the Western chemical term 'ester.' Its semantic component is the left radical 酉 (yǒu), an ancient wine vessel pictograph that places the character within the domain of alcohols and chemical reactions. The right component 旨 (zhǐ) provides the pronunciation. This character exemplifies how the traditional radical-phonetic system was adapted to express modern scientific concepts, specifically organic compounds formed by the reaction of acids and alcohols.