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The character 芩 is a phono-semantic compound identifying a type of plant. Its top semantic radical 艹 (cǎo) indicates it belongs to the category of grasses or herbaceous flora. The bottom component 今 (jīn) provides the phonetic element, guiding its pronunciation. 芩 refers to certain reeds or marsh plants and is notably used for the medicinal herb skullcap (黄芩, huángqín) in traditional pharmacology. The structure combines the plant radical with a sound component to specify this particular botanical species.
Etymology Hide
