瑟 (sè)

a type of standing harp, smaller than konghou 箜篌, with 5-25 strings

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. A depiction of movable frets of an stringed instrument represents the meaning and 必 represents the sound.

Shuowen Jiezi

《說文》:“瑟,庖犧所作弦樂也。从珡,必聲。”

Components