Origin

The left side is a hand radical showing this is an action you do with your hands. The right side is the character for foot or leg. Together they suggest the idea of using your hands to grab or seize something, much like catching someone by the foot or leg. The combination of "hand" plus "foot/leg" creates the meaning of capturing or taking hold of something forcefully. Over time this evolved into the general sense of catching or capturing anything, not just by the legs.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).