央

yāng
#798 most
frequent character
center, end, to beg, to plead

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

央 is a picture of a person's neck held in a wooden frame, so it first meant cruel punishment. From that came calamity and suffering, then to beg or plead. The sense 'center' was borrowed for sound alone.

Drawn as: person in wooden frame

央 as a component in other characters

sound9 characters
英映盎鞅秧殃鸯怏泱

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