Origin

This character combines a hand radical on the left, which shows it's an action performed by the hand, with the component 苗 on the right that serves as a sound hint for the pronunciation. The hand radical suggests something you do with your hands, while 苗 — which pictures a young seedling — has a similar sound to the character's pronunciation. Together, the hand doing something, guided by the sound component, creates the meaning of sketching, drawing, or painting, all actions where the hand creates images on a surface.

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