About
The character 砒 is structured as a phono-semantic compound with the semantic component 石, meaning "stone", and the phonetic component 比, which guides its pronunciation. It was formulated to denote arsenic, a mineral substance, and has historically been used in reference to arsenic compounds, most notably in the term 砒霜 for arsenic trioxide. Over time, its meaning has concentrated specifically on arsenic and its toxic variants, reflecting its primary association with poison.