Origin

This character combines the metal radical 金, which marks it as a substance made of metal, with a sound component 㕣 on the right that hints at its pronunciation. The left side tells you "this is some kind of metal" while the right side provides a rough phonetic guide, similar to how many kanji pair a meaningful component with a sound hint. Together they create the character for lead, the soft, heavy metal. This two-part system let Chinese scribes build new characters efficiently by reusing familiar pieces for both meaning and sound.