About
The character 槁 is a phono-semantic compound, combining the semantic radical 木 (tree, wood) with the phonetic component 高. It fundamentally denotes wood or trees that are dry, withered, or dead. This concept of desiccated vegetation was later extended metaphorically to describe a person's haggard appearance or exhausted state, linking the physical withering of wood to a depletion of human vitality.
Etymology Hide
