Origin

This character combines a grass radical at the top with a component meaning "next" or "order" at the bottom. The grass element indicates the character refers to a plant, while the bottom component likely provides a sound hint for pronunciation rather than adding to the meaning. Together, the visual pairing suggests a plant with thorns or prickles — something rough and tangled that impedes passage, like brambles or briars that grow in succession across wild areas. Over time, this combination came to represent thorny or prickly plants in general.