牽 (qiān)

to drag, to pull, to lead by the hand

Etymology

Depicts a person (人) leading an ox (牛) by the nose (自). The 人 and 自 components were later corrupted into phonetic 玄.

Shuowen Jiezi

《說文》:“牽,引前也。从牛,象引牛之縻也,玄聲。”

Components