Origin

The character 翼 combines the radical 羽, which means feather or wing, with 異 below it as a sound hint to show how the character should be pronounced. The feather component makes the meaning clear: this character refers to wings, the paired feathered structures that birds use to fly. Over time, the meaning extended to similar flank or side positions, and eventually to modern aircraft wings as well. The 異 component doesn't add meaning but rather signals roughly how to say the word.