櫃

A phono-semantic compound:

木 (wood) — semantic component, indicates an object made of wood

匱 (chest; to be exhausted) — phonetic component, supplies both pronunciation and the original sense of an enclosed container

The earliest meaning of 櫃 is a wooden chest used to store valuables, documents, clothing, or ritual items. Such chests were often rectangular, lidded, and portable, serving as both storage and furniture.

In pre-modern East Asia, chests (櫃) were closely associated with:

- wealth and property

- family heirlooms

- documents and contracts

- ritual and ceremonial storage

Because of this, 櫃 often carries a nuance of valuable or protected contents, unlike more neutral words for boxes.

In classical texts, 櫃 frequently appears in contexts involving wealth, records, or ritual objects.

Example (typical classical sense):

藏於櫃中 — “stored within a chest”

The word implies careful keeping and protection, not casual storage.

Related characters:

匱 — chest; to be lacking

箱 — box; case

櫥 — cupboard; cabinet

函 — box; case; container