Origin

This character most likely combines the grass radical (the three strokes at the top representing plants) with a component below that suggests a climbing or tangled vine. The kudzu plant is a vigorous vine that grows in dense, twisted masses, so the character's shape appears designed to capture the idea of a leafy plant with spreading, intertwined growth. Over time, the specific visual details were simplified into the standard written form, but the basic image of a spreading plant remained. The character came to represent not just the plant itself but also arrowroot, which is made from kudzu's root.