Source: Make Me a Hanzi.
累 has 糸 silk threads as the meaning part and 田 as an empty part that was once 畾, the sound part. The first sense was 'to sew together'. Read lèi, 'tired; overworked' was borrowed for its sound. Read lěi, it grew to 'to accumulate, amass' and 'to involve someone'; read léi, to 'to tie together' and 'rope, line'.
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