后

Hou4
#48 most
frequent character
surname Hou

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

后 first showed a woman giving birth, so it meant 'successor to the throne'. It grew to 'king', 'queen', 'after', 'descendant', and 'late'. It also meant 'after; behind' very early.

Drawn as: woman giving birth; woman's legs; child's head and arms

后 as a component in other characters

sound3 characters
垢逅诟
picture1 character
骺

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