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袜wà

Character evolution

袜

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Simplified · Today

Shuowen

袜 (wà): The character 袜 depicts a covering for the foot, a sock worn on the feet in ancient times. The left side shows the clothing radical 衣, indicating this is a type of garment, while the right side 末 provides the phonetic component. In the oracle bone inscriptions, this character appears as a shape that clearly represents something wrapping around the foot, made from cloth. This character captures the garment's essential function of enveloping the foot completely, the earliest Chinese character representing socks. The structure shows cloth (衣) with a phonetic element, but the original meaning is clearly a foot-covering, something worn on the feet to protect them.

Pinyin

wà· HSK 2