Origin

This character combines water (the three-dot radical on the left) with a sound component on the right that indicates the pronunciation. The water element makes sense because thirst and drying up are both about the lack or absence of water. Over time, the character came to represent the feeling or condition of lacking water—thirst—and by extension, anything becoming dry or parched. The sound component doesn't add meaning; it simply hints at how the character should be pronounced.