Origin

This character combines the flesh radical 月, which identifies it as a body part, with 干 on the right as a sound hint showing roughly how to pronounce it. The liver, being an internal organ associated with courage and determination in traditional thinking, became linked to meanings like "pluck" and "nerve" — the idea that your liver contains your boldness. The character's shape reflects both what it names (a body part) and how it sounds in Chinese-derived speech.

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