Origin

This character combines a person marker on the left with a sound hint on the right. The left side, a simplified human figure, tells you this word describes something a person does. The right component provides a rough pronunciation guide, sounding like "mai" or similar. Together, the character expresses the idea of a person engaging in the dismissive action indicated by the sound component—treating someone with scorn or contempt by looking down on them. Over time, this combination came to mean disrespect or making light of someone.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).