About
The character 骘 originally meant a male horse or stallion. Structurally, its traditional form 騭 is a phono-semantic compound: the semantic component 馬 (horse) indicates its category, while the phonetic component 陟 (zhì) provides the pronunciation. Its meaning later expanded to abstract verbs like arranging, determining, or stabilizing, often used in contexts of establishing order or evaluation. The simplified form 骘 replaces 馬 with its simplified counterpart 马, retaining 陟. This shift from a specific equine term to a conceptual action reflects a metaphorical evolution in its usage.
Etymology Hide
