cǎo

grass

straw; manuscript; draft (of a document); careless; rough; CL:棵[ke1],撮[zuo3],株[zhu1],根[gen1]

plant (艹) + early (早) = grass

艹 is the grass radical and carries all the meaning here. 早 mainly contributes the sound cǎo; grass is one of the earliest, most basic plants, so the pairing feels natural even if it is coincidental.

+
EarlyPhonetic
GrassSemantic

Words with 草

草甸

cǎo diàn

meadow

卧草

wò cǎo

(substitute for 我肏[wo3 cao4]) fuck

通草

tōng cǎo

rice-paper plant (Tetrapanax papyriferus)

锄草

chú cǎo

to hoe

那拉提草原

nà lā dī cǎo yuán

Nalat grasslands

酢浆草

cù jiāng cǎo

creeping oxalis

野草

yě cǎo

weeds

金鱼草

jīn yú cǎo

snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)

长草区

cháng cǎo qū

the rough (golf)

阅微草堂笔记

yuè wēi cǎo táng bǐ jì

Notes on a Minutely Observed Thatched Hut by Ji Yun 紀昀|纪昀[Ji4 Yun2], novel of the supernatural

除草

chú cǎo

to weed

除草剂

chú cǎo jì

weed killer

More characters with 艹