About
The character 猸 is a phono-semantic compound created to denote a specific East Asian badger. It combines the semantic radical 犭 (dog/animal) on the left, which classifies it as a mammal, with the phonetic component 眉 on the right, which indicates its pronunciation. Unlike older characters originating from pictographs, 猸 was formed relatively late to name the hog badger or related mustelids. Its meaning has remained confined to this zoological sense throughout history, without developing extended or metaphorical uses.