gēn
heel
Phonosemantic compound. 足 represents the meaning and 艮 represents the sound.
Evolution

Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
gēn
heel; to follow, accompany; with; to follow closely; to go with; (of a woman) to marry sb; compared with; to; towards; and (joining two nouns)
Most common words with 跟
Freq. | Word | Meaning |
---|---|---|
heel | ||
to tail | ||
to follow | ||
high-heeled shoes | ||
to catch up with |
Sources