脈

Phono-semantic compound:

肉 (육, “flesh”) - semantic, indicating body or flesh.

𠂢 (파, “branch, forked path”) - phonetic, gives sound and idea of branching.

Thus originally “branching lines in the flesh”, representing veins and vessels, later extended to pulse and figurative “vein/lineage.”

脈搏 (맥박) — pulse, heartbeat

山脈 (산맥) — mountain range (lit. “mountain veins”)

血脈 (혈맥) — blood vessel; lineage, kinship

文脈 (문맥) — literary or logical context

脈絡 (맥락) — connection, coherence, train of thought

In Classical usage, 脈脈 can mean “continuous” or, poetically, “tender/affectionate gaze.”