霉 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

méi HSK7

mildew

Phonosemantic compound. 雨 represents the meaning and 每 represents the sound. Simplified form of 黴.

Components

雨 Meaning component

yǔ rain

每 Sound component

měi every

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	mrɯl

A small 微 black 黑 growth; 微 also provides the pronunciation

微 Sound component

wēi small

Change in sound

黴 and 微 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
黴 mrɯl
微 *məj

黑 Meaning component

hēi black

Regular Modern

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	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	mrɯl
	mɯːls

《說文》：“黴，中久雨青黑。从黑，微省聲。”