About
The character 秣 is a phono-semantic compound. Its left-side semantic radical, 禾 (hé), meaning grain, places it within the agricultural domain. The right-side component, 末 (mò), serves as the phonetic element and originally meant the tip of a branch. The character primarily denotes fodder for horses and other livestock, and can also function as a verb meaning to feed animals. In classical texts, it often appears in military contexts, referring to the provisioning of cavalry horses for battle or campaigns. Its structure, combining the grain radical with a phonetic component, consistently reflects its core meaning related to animal sustenance throughout historical usage.