About
The character 岌 (jí) is a phono-semantic compound with the mountain radical 山 (shān) at the top as its semantic component, and the phonetic element 及 (jí) at the bottom. The mountain radical indicates its core meaning refers to a towering, lofty geographical feature. From this sense of extreme height, the meaning extended to describe situations or structures that are perilous and on the verge of collapse.
Etymology Hide
