About
The character 镐 (gǎo or hào) is a simplified form of 鎬. As a phono-semantic compound, its left radical 钅 (from traditional 釒) indicates a connection to metal, while the right component 高 (gāo) provides the pronunciation. When read as "gǎo", it means a pickaxe, a heavy iron tool for breaking hard ground. When read as "hào", it functions as a proper noun, most notably in Haojing (镐京), the capital of the Western Zhou dynasty.
Etymology Hide
