Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 生 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "eye disease", now written as 眚. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Oracle Bone~1250-1000 BCOracle Bone~1250-1000 BCBronzeEarly Western Zhou~1000 BCBronzeMid Western Zhou~900 BCBronzeLate Western Zhou~800 BCBronzeLate Warring States~250 BCSealWarring States (Chu)475-221 BCSealWarring States (Chu)475-221 BCSealWarring States (Chu)475-221 BCSealShuowen~100 ADSealShuowen~100 ADClericalQin221-206 BCRegularModern