Definitions
the bleating of sheep; surname
Etymology
About
The character 芈 originated as an onomatopoeic representation of a sheep's bleat, which later served as a surname for the Chu state nobility during the Zhou dynasty. Its modern structure consists of the grass radical 艹 positioned above the component 米, a form that resulted from graphical changes over centuries. While initially denoting the sound of a sheep, the character's meaning contracted exclusively to a surname, leaving its phonetic origin largely obscured in contemporary usage.
Etymology Hide
