参
參cēn
#507 most
frequent character
used in 參差|参差[cen1 ci1]
Character breakdown
Source: Make Me a Hanzi.
参 began as three stars shining over a person, meaning 'Three Stars'. 彡 is the sound part, a variant of 三. Read cān, the sense 'to join, participate' was borrowed for the sound; read shēn, 'ginseng' was also borrowed for the sound.
Drawn as: stars over a person
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