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Meaning component

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A meaning or semantic component hints at the meaning of the character.

For example:

● Meaning components are color-coded as red.

Historical shifts in meaning

Sometimes a character does not seem related to its meaning component. This can happen when the meaning of a character changes over the course of history.

For example, the character 错 originally meant to decorate something by inlaying it with gold or silver, which is why it contains the 金 (metal) component. Later this character expanded to include other meanings:

• interlocking pattern

• stagger / crossing

• complex / chaotic

• incorrect / mistake

• bad / wrong