Origin

This character combines water (川) on the left with head or face (頁) on the right. The idea is that water naturally flows and follows the path of least resistance—it obeys the landscape without resistance. Applied to people, this suggests going along smoothly with circumstances or following the natural order of things, which is how the character came to mean "obey," "order," and "turn" (as in following a sequence). The pairing of flowing water with the head hints at compliance and docility, the way a person should move through the world as naturally and smoothly as water flows.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).