错
cuò · HSK 1
wrong
❌ 钅(metal) + 昔(former) — a coin from former times is now wrong currency
错 combines the metal radical 钅with 昔 (former/past). Originally meant inlaid metal, then shifted to mean error or wrong. Sound cuò rhymes with the English word slow — slow thinking leads to wrong answers.
错 — metal radical 钅 + 昔 (xī, former times)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 钅(金) 'metal' gives the meaning, while 昔 supplies the sound. It originally referred to gilding or inlaying metal, then extended to 'interweave, alternate,' and from 'crossed/mixed up' came to mean 'wrong, mistaken.'