姙

Phono-semantic compound:

女 (녀, “woman”) — semantic, indicating the female or woman.

壬 (임, “ninth heavenly stem; north”) — phonetic, providing the sound and implying the concept of carrying or enduring.

The combination represents a woman who bears or carries life within her — symbolically linked to the idea of enduring time or burden (as 壬 is associated with “carrying” in early Chinese cosmology).

임신(妊娠) — pregnancy

수태(受胎) — conception

임부(妊婦) — a pregnant woman

In Classical Chinese, 妊 could metaphorically mean “to bear” or “to carry” (e.g., 妊天命 — “to bear Heaven’s will”).

姙 — a later variant replacing 壬 with 任 (맡길 임), which carries a similar phonetic value and related meaning (“to bear responsibility”). Both forms were historically interchangeable.