括号

The Chinese word 括号 (kuòhào) is a compound word consisting of two characters: 括 (kuò) and 号 (hào). The character 括 originally meant "to grasp" or "to hold in the hand", and was later extended to mean "to enclose" or "to bracket". The character 号 originally meant "a signal" or "a symbol", and was later extended to mean "a name" or "a title". When combined, the two characters 括号 literally mean "enclosing symbols", and are used to refer to parentheses or brackets in writing.The word 括号 was first used in Chinese during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), and was borrowed from the Japanese language. In Japanese, the word 括弧 (かっこ) is also a compound word, consisting of the characters 括 (kaku) and 弧 (ko). The character 括 has the same meaning in Japanese as it does in Chinese, while the character 弧 means "an arc" or "a curve". When combined, the two characters 括弧 literally mean "enclosing arcs", and are used to refer to parentheses or brackets in writing.The word 括号 is now commonly used in Chinese to refer to parentheses or brackets, and is an important part of the Chinese writing system.