TSUMUGU · B2 (est.) · 字
枉
枉 ＝ 木 ＋ 㞷
ㄨㄤˇ · wǎng
adj — crooked, bent; wronged, unjust — adverb — in vain
字源 FORM — what the parts do
㞷聲wǎng — gives the soundworn down in the modern glyph to plain 王
A piece of wood (木) gone crooked — the original sense, bent. The sound-part 㞷 wǎng has worn down to look like plain 王 on the right; it still carries the reading. From bent wood: 冤枉 to be wronged, 枉法 to twist the law, and 枉費 to spend in vain — effort gone crooked.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
那根木料天生彎著，怎麼也擺不直。
The timber was born with a bend in it; no setting will make it lie straight.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)彎曲、不直— crooked, bent
→冤枉、枉法— to wrong; to pervert (the law)常用
→枉費、枉然— in vain, to no avail常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension