Definitions
variant of 鬥|斗[dòu]
Etymology
About
The character 閗 is a historical variant of 鬥, formed by enclosing the component 斗 within the radical 門. Here, 斗 primarily indicates the pronunciation, while also independently meaning a measure word or dipper. The character’s core meaning relates to fighting, contending, or struggling, whether physical or ideological. While the standard form 鬥 depicts two people in hand-to-hand combat, this simplified structural variant likely arose as a phonetic shorthand in informal writing, before the standardized form was established for the abstract concept of struggle.