TSUMUGU · TOCFL C1 (est.) · 字
釐
釐 ＝ 里 ＋ 𠩺
ㄌㄧˊ · lí
noun — a tiny fraction (a li); the centi- prefix; verb — to regulate, put in order
字源 FORM — what the parts do
𠩺聲lí — the phonetic, a hand striking grain from the stalkthis top is the real sound-donor; in the modern glyph it splits across the 𠫓-and-strokes above 里
The top 𠩺 (lí) is a hand beating the grain off the stalk — threshing, then setting the harvest in order: to regulate, 治理. 里 sits underneath carrying the sound too. Worn down to its smallest measure, 釐 became a unit — a hair's fraction — and metric borrowed it for centi-: 釐米. A second reading xǐ runs the auspicious line, the old twin of 禧.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
手把穀穗一打（𠩺），穀粒落地——一粒一粒理清，量到最細的一釐。
A hand beats the grain from the stalk (𠩺), the kernels falling — each one sorted, measured down to the last fine li.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)整理、治理— to put in order, regulate
→毫釐、一釐— a tiny fraction — a li常用
⇒釐米— centi- (in metric)常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
厘líthe simplified twin — 厘 keeps the cliff 厂 over ; 釐 carries the full threshing-hand top 理＝ 王 ＋ lǐshares for sound — jade-grain 王 beside it, the orderly veins, to reason