Origin

This character combines the insect radical 虫 at the bottom with a sound hint 亦 at the top. The insect component may reflect an ancient association between certain insects or creatures and foreign or uncivilized peoples—perhaps thinking of unfamiliar or strange animal life. The 亦 component signals roughly how the character should sound without contributing to the meaning itself. Over time, the character came to mean "barbarian" or "foreigner," possibly because it originally referred to strange or alien creatures and peoples encountered beyond civilized lands.