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翳 is a phono-semantic compound: the feather radical 羽 (at bottom) provides the meaning, and 殹 (above) the sound. The feather component originally referred to objects made of feathers, like the large fans or parasols dignitaries used to block the sun or wind. This act of blocking or covering gave the character its extended sense of screening or concealing something from view. In traditional medical contexts, that notion of covering was further applied to a cataract or opaque film growing over the eye, clouding vision.
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