Origin

This character combines the wood radical on the left, which marks it as something made of wood, with a sound hint on the right. The right component indicates the pronunciation roughly as "san" or "sen." The wooden structures suggested by the meaning — scaffolds, jetties, cleats, and door bolts — are all practical wooden frames or fasteners used in building and construction. Over time, the character came to represent these various kinds of wooden frameworks and supports.

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