yuè
cutting off feet as form of punishment
Originally a pictograph of a saw cutting off a person's foot. Later the character was changed to a phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 月 represents the sound.
Evolution
Oracle script
(~1250-1000 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
Sources