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The Chinese character 吲 is a phono-semantic compound, combining the semantic component 口 ('mouth') with the phonetic 引 ('to stretch'), which also provides its pronunciation. Its original meaning, 'to stretch the mouth' (i.e., to smile), is now completely obsolete. Today, the character is used exclusively in the chemical term 吲哚 (yǐnduǒ), a phonetic loan for 'indole', an aromatic heterocyclic organic compound. This repurposing of an archaic character for modern scientific terminology is a common practice.
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