About
The character 眵 is a phono-semantic compound formed to denote eye secretions, specifically the crusty discharge known as rheum or sleep. It combines the eye radical 目 on the left, which establishes its semantic connection to the eye, with the phonetic component 多 (duō) on the right, which guides its pronunciation. Although 多 means "many" or "much", its function here is phonetic rather than semantic. This character appears most often in the compound term 眵 (yǎnchī), a medical and anatomical term for the matter that accumulates in the corners of the eyes. 眵 is a concrete, literal term without abstract meanings, serving as a precise vocabulary item for this common physiological phenomenon.
Etymology Hide
