器官

qìguān · HSK 4

appendage

🫀 器官 = vessel/tool (器) + official/organ (官) → bodily organ

器 means vessel or instrument; 官 originally meant an official post or function. Together they name a functional body part — an organ. The slang senses (member, variety meat) extend from this anatomical core.

官 — roof 宀 + mound/many 㠯
Originally a pictograph showing a building (roof 宀) over stacked mounds or seats (㠯), depicting an official residence or government office. The meaning extended from the building itself to the officials who worked there, and then broadly to 'official' or 'government.'

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