About
The character 躐 is structured with the semantic radical 足, indicating foot movement, and the phonetic component 巤. Etymologically, it meant to step over or tread upon, and this core idea evolved to encompass metaphorical extensions such as bypassing proper order or exceeding boundaries, exemplified in compounds like 躐等 for skipping grades. The character's composition has remained unchanged, with 巤 providing phonetic guidance despite its separate lexical meaning.