The story of 取

take, get, fetch

取 is composed of 耳(ear) and 又(also). 又 is the picture of a hand, so 取 depicts an ear being picked by a hand, its original meaning is cutting ear. In ancient China, soldiers will cut the ears of the captives as their trophies, but such meaning has been replaced by 聝 or 馘, now 取 means getting or taking.