阀
閥fá
#2,665 most
frequent character
powerful individual, family or group
Character breakdown
Source: Make Me a Hanzi.
阀 joins 门 door with 伐 fá, which means to slash at the neck and also supplies the sound. Together they hint at sending out an expedition to attack. That grew to a powerful military group, then a clique. The sense 'valve' was borrowed from English.
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