Ideographic: A woman 女 branded 辛 as a slaveRadical:

meaning for qiè:

  • - concubine
  • - I, your servant (deprecatory self-reference for women)wives and concubines (of a polygamous man)
  • - haremto take a concubine(literary) I, your servant (self-appellation of a lower-rank female)
  • - (archaic) male and female slaves
  • - subjects (of a ruler)concubineconcubine