皱
zhoù · HSK 7
to wrinkle
👴 皱 = 皮 (skin) + 刍 phonetic; creased skin folds into wrinkles
The 皮 element means skin, the part of us that creases and folds with age. Pair it with the zhou sound and you get the idea of skin gathering into wrinkles or a brow drawing into a crease.
皱 — 皮 skin (semantic) + 刍 chú (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The 皮 component means 'skin' and signals the meaning—wrinkles form on skin or skin-like surfaces. The 刍 component (originally depicting grass being gathered) supplies the sound, historically close to 'zhòu'. The character came to mean wrinkles, creases, or to frown.