About
The character 陬 is a phono-semantic compound, with the semantic radical 阝 (representing a mound or city) and the phonetic component 取 (to take). The mound element originally anchored it to geographical contexts, designating the corner or angle of a landform, such as a mountain base or city wall. Its meaning later broadened to encompass any corner, angle, or secluded place. This spatial sense arises from the structure: the radical implies a geographical boundary, while the phonetic component provides the pronunciation without contributing to the core meaning.
Etymology Hide
