Henshall says 触 used to look like this:
觸
On the right, you see 蜀, which generally means “green caterpillar.” In the case of 觸, the 蜀 shape originally served a phonetic purpose and meant “to make contact.” Meanwhile, the 角 in these characters has always meant “horn.”
A Whale-Fish Compound with 角 …
So 觸 once meant “horns making contact” with something or someone, which is to say “goring.”
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