糊

A phono-semantic compound consisting of:

米 (rice) — semantic component, reflects paste made from grain starch;

胡 — phonetic component, supplying the sound (호 / hú).

Originally, 糊 referred to rice paste used as glue.

Semantic development:

- rice paste;

- glue or adhesive;

- to paste;

- blurred or unclear;

- burned bottom of food.

The metaphorical extension from “paste-like blur” to “confusion” is common in modern Chinese.

In Korean, 糊 appears mainly in historical or technical contexts.

호지 (糊紙) — to paste paper

도배 (塗糊) — pasting (wallpapering; classical usage)

糊 connects food, texture, and clarity concepts. Retains strong association with rice-based paste.

Related characters:

胡 — phonetic base

餬 — thick porridge

浆 — starch paste

涂 — to smear

Relationship to 餬:

糊 also functions as the simplified form of 餬 (호) in some contexts.

餬 originally refers to porridge or thick gruel, showing semantic connection to cooked grain paste.

During the short-lived Second Simplification Scheme in China, several characters including: 葫, 猢, 蝴 were temporarily unified under 胡. This reform was later abandoned.