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The phono-semantic compound 骛 conveys the rapid, forceful action of a horse galloping or running wildly. Its semantic horse radical 马 at the bottom classifies it under equine behavior, while the upper phonetic component 敄 provides the pronunciation "wù" and historically denoted striving. In the traditional form 騖, the unsimplified horse radical 馬 sits beneath the same phonetic element, preserving the same structure. Beyond its literal sense of galloping, the character extended metaphorically to mean pursuing something eagerly or with intense ambition, often appearing in literary compounds describing the chase of high aspirations or distant goals.
Etymology Hide
