About
The character 蛭, meaning leech, is a phono-semantic compound formed from the semantic radical 虫, denoting insects or small creatures, and the phonetic component 至, which indicates its pronunciation as zhì. Its etymology directly links it to bloodsucking annelids, and the meaning has consistently referred to such organisms without notable divergence. The structure remains unchanged, and no distinct traditional form was simplified, as the character itself is used in both writing systems.
Etymology Hide
