Origin

This character most likely combines the speech or language radical (the left side related to words and communication) with a component on the right that provides a sound hint—the character is pronounced roughly like "tō." The connection to copying and mimeographing probably developed because making copies involves repeating or reproducing something, much like repeating words or speech. The character's structure reflects the idea of duplication through language or written form, which is why it came to mean making copies or using a mimeograph machine.