掣肘 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

chèzhǒu

hinder

chè drag

Phonosemantic compound. 手 represents the meaning and 制 represents the sound.

手 Meaning component

shǒu, shou hand

制 Sound component

zhì control

Originally written similar to 九, which depicts an elbow. Later the ⺼ (meat, flesh) component was added.

⺼ Meaning component

ròu meat, flesh

寸 Iconic component

cùn, cun (hand), inch

Originally depicted a bent arm, similar to 九. Later reanalyzed as 寸, which depicts a hand.

Regular Modern

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	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	trjuwX	t-[k]<r>uʔ	elbow

《說文》：“肘，臂節也。从肉，从寸。寸，手寸口也。”