音読み: も
訓読み: しげる
画数: 8
部首: くさかんむり（艹）
Meaning
Grow Thick / Overgrown / Luxuriant.
- 茂る — to grow thick; to be overgrown
- 茂み — thicket; bush
- 繁茂 — luxuriant growth; profuse vegetation
With the grass/plant radical 艹 on top and a sound element beneath, 茂 paints a picture of vegetation growing dense and vigorous. It’s the feel of leaves and stems crowding together — hence “to grow thick; luxuriant.”
Link it with 草 (grass): picture grass not just growing, but growing thick until it’s a lush patch. That quick image makes 茂 stick as “overgrown; luxuriant growth.”
Forms
繁茂 — luxuriant growth; dense vegetation