Origin

This character combines the metal radical 金 on the left, which identifies the character as relating to metalwork, with 寿 on the right as a sound hint suggesting the pronunciation. The metal component makes sense because casting is the process of melting metal and pouring it into molds to form objects—a core metalworking technique. By pairing the metal radical with a phonetic component, the character efficiently conveys both what the word is about and roughly how it should sound.