About
砝 is a phonosemantic compound: the radical 石 conveys the meaning 'stone', and 去 indicates the sound. It refers to standard weights used with a balance scale to measure mass. The stone radical reflects the materials of early weights, which were often carved from dense stone or metal. Unlike many characters that develop divergent meanings, 砝 has a narrow technical sense, appearing almost exclusively in the compound 砝码 (counterweights).
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