About
The character 颡 is a phono-semantic compound denoting the forehead. Its semantic component is the right-side radical 页 (or 頁 in the traditional form 顙), which indicates a meaning related to the head. The left-side component 桑 provides the pronunciation "sāng" or "sǎng"; while 桑 itself means mulberry tree, here it functions solely for its phonetic value. The primary meaning of 颡 is the forehead or upper face. This character appears in classical anatomical and descriptive texts, but in modern Chinese its use is largely confined to formal literary contexts or specific idioms concerning the head.
Etymology Hide
