Definitions

hóu epiphysis; the tip of a long bone

Etymology

The end  of a bone  also provides the pronunciation

About

is a phono-semantic compound: (bone) serves as the semantic radical, placing the character in the domain of skeletal anatomy and medicine, while (hòu) means 'end' and simultaneously supplies the sound hóu. The character refers to the epiphysis , the rounded extremity of a long bone that forms a joint where it meets an adjacent bone. Its use is restricted to fields such as clinical anatomy, orthopedics, and biology. This illustrates how a radical that denotes a physiological category and a phonetic component that also hints at the meaning combine to form specialized scientific terms.