Plow and plowshare were the main farming tools of ancient times.
Tips
history
耜 is the blade at the bottom of an ancient plow, paired with the handle 耒. Together 耒耜 stands for early farming tools, first wooden, later iron-tipped.
耒 is the plow radical, the wooden handle of an ancient plow. It marks this character as a farming-tool word, here the cutting blade fixed to that plow.
Here the right side stands in for the old phonetic element 㠯, drawn close to 目 in modern form. It supplies an approximate sound and carries no meaning.
