Ancient people often used oaths and curses to bind enemies.
Tips
usage
诅 mostly appears in the compound 诅咒 (zǔzhòu, to curse). On its own it is rare and feels classical - you'll meet it in idioms or historical texts more than daily speech.
memory
言 (speech) + 且 - words spat out 'and yet again' until they harden into a curse.
Two-stroke speech radical on the left, the side form of 言. 诅 means to curse or invoke harm verbally - speech in its most aggressive form. Groups with 骂 to scold, 诬 to slander, 诽 to defame, 诺 to promise - chars where action happens through the mouth.
Right side 且 supplies the sound - qiě drifting to zǔ through a regular q/z alternation. Same phonetic appears in 祖 ancestor, 组 group, 阻 to block, 助 to assist, 租 to rent, 沮 dejected - a wide zu family worth memorizing as a set.
