Origin

This character combines a person classifier on the left with the component 白 (white), which serves as a sound hint for how to pronounce the character. The 白 component doesn't directly mean "white" in this context; rather, it tells you the character sounds something like "haku" in Japanese. The meaning of "chief" or "count" likely developed from its use as a title or rank in Chinese, where a person of high status could be referred to by this character. Over time, it came to mean an uncle or elder brother as well, extending the sense of an important or senior person.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).