About
As a phono-semantic compound, 菸 uses the plant radical 艹 to place it within the botanical category, with the lower element 於 providing its phonetic component. Its original meaning described the natural process of a plant withering or wilting as it lost moisture. When the tobacco plant was introduced through trade, this character was repurposed to denote the plant itself and its dried leaves, offering a botanically precise term distinct from other characters that focused more on the smoke produced by burning it.
Etymology Hide
