About
The character 钭 originally referred to an ancient bronze vessel, dipper, or container used for serving wine. Its metal radical indicates the material. In the traditional form 鈄, the full radical 金 combines with the phonetic component 斗, which itself depicts a dipper, reinforcing both sound and meaning. The simplified modern form 钭 replaces 金 with the radical 钅, while 斗 remains unchanged. Today, the original sense is largely obsolete, and the character survives almost exclusively as a rare Chinese surname.
Etymology Hide
