耗

Phono-semantic compound originally consisting of:

禾 (벼 화) — semantic component, representing grain or crops.

毛 (털 모) — phonetic component, providing the sound mó / mo and originally implying fineness or smallness.

According to Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字):

「耗，禾之耗也。从禾毛聲。」

“耗 means the withering or depletion of grain. Formed from 禾 (‘grain’) and phonetic 毛 (‘hair’).”

In early bronze inscriptions (金文 jinwen), the character depicted a plant losing its grains — the image of natural wasting or thinning out.

Later, during the evolution of script forms, the left component 禾 was replaced by 耒 (쟁기 뢰), emphasizing labor, cultivation, or wear through use.

Thus, the sense shifted from “the decline of grain” to “to consume, to be worn out,” extending metaphorically to all forms of depletion.

消耗 (소모) — to consume; consumption

損耗 (손모) — loss; wear and tear

耗費 (모비) — expenditure; spending

耗盡 (모진) — to use up; to exhaust completely

消耗量 (소모량) — amount of consumption

耗能 (모능) — energy consumption

耗時 (모시) — time-consuming

耗損 (모손) — attrition; depreciation

耗材 (모재) — consumable materials

In classical Chinese, 耗 often signifies natural decline or gradual loss — whether of grain, strength, or moral vigor.

It stands in contrast to 益 (to increase), representing the balance between depletion and nourishment.

From Book of Documents (書經·洪範):

「五事：貌、言、視、聽、思；思曰睿，耗曰愚。」

“Of the five conducts — appearance, speech, sight, hearing, and thought — wise thought leads to insight; wasted thought leads to folly.”

Here, 耗 metaphorically means “to squander” one’s mental clarity through excess or neglect.

In later moral writings, 耗 is used to warn against the wasting of one’s inner essence (精) and energy (氣).

The Daoist Baopuzi (抱朴子) says:

「縱欲以耗精，久則夭折。」

“To indulge desire is to deplete the essence; in time, it shortens one’s life.”

Thus, 耗 came to represent any loss of vitality or virtue through overuse or indulgence.

Economically, in modern Chinese and Korean usage, 耗 extends to denote expenditure or consumption of resources — whether energy, materials, or time.