字形分析Character Analysis:
形声字，从心，亡声。
忘 is a Phonetic Compound, formed from a semantic indicator of 心 (literally means the heart or mind, feeling, intention) and a phonetic component of 亡 (pronounced as wáng, later developed into a new meaning of losing something, for what escapes or runs away from you can be taken as something you've lost. You may refer to 亡's derivation in our previous lesson of '忘').
本义original meaning:
急迫，慌忙 hasten; hurry; pressing; in great rush
Lily explains 忙 like this:
When in a hurry and hastening to do something, you (or your heart, still remembering that Chinese used to think that they feel and reason with their heart not mind) might feel nervous and have no definite views of your own; you can not think clearly at all, as if your mind or your heart managed to escape from you like a naughty kid. So, the character of 忙 tells that a man in a rush tends to lose his normal judgement and fail to make a right decision as a result.
