馘

guó

或 + 首

Definitions

guó to cut off the left ear; to tally the enemy's dead

Etymology

To cut off 或 the enemy's ears 首; 或 also provides the pronunciation

About

馘 combines the semantic radical 首 ('head') with the phonetic 或 to form a phono-semantic compound. It refers to the ancient military practice of cutting off the left ear of a slain enemy on the battlefield to keep a tally of kills and claim rewards. The meaning never extended beyond this historical context, leaving the character with no modern usage and appearing only in classical historical records.