About
The character 魑, primarily encountered in the compound 魑魅, originated in early Chinese texts as a term for malevolent spirits. Its structure combines the semantic radical 鬼, indicating a ghost or demon, with the phonetic component 离 to guide pronunciation. Initially, 魑 could denote various evil entities, but its meaning gradually narrowed to specifically refer to mountain demons within the fixed expression 魑魅. The character's form, built from 鬼 and 离, has seen no major graphical changes in its written history.
Etymology Hide
