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秣 is a phono-semantic compound: the left-side radical 禾 (hé, 'grain or crops') is the semantic component indicating the agricultural realm, and the right-side 末 (mò) is the phonetic, originally meaning the tip or end of a branch. Its meaning centers on fodder for horses and livestock, and it can also serve as a verb meaning to feed animals. In classical literature and historical texts, it appears frequently in military contexts, describing the provisioning of cavalry horses before battle or during long campaigns. The character's structure and core sense of animal feed are consistent throughout Chinese historical records, with the grain radical clearly placing it among agricultural terms.
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