粗

Left indexing rice radical — the meaning anchor. Originally 粗 referred specifically to coarsely-milled rice, as opposed to finely-milled fine rice (精, 'refined'). The grain radical preserves this granular origin even as the meaning extended to anything thick or rough. Same family: 粒 (grain), 粉 (powder), 糖 (sugar), 粥 (porridge).

Right component supplies the sound (qiě → cū, drifted but related in Old Chinese tsʰ-onset series). 且 historically pictured stacked altar plates, giving a faint image of 'piled, lumped together' — fitting for coarse, unrefined matter. Same phonetic family: 阻, 祖, 助, 组.