Chinese character 峨 (é)

It means high, steep, or towering.

The left part 山 gives the mountain idea and the right part 我 gives the sound, so 峨 is a height word for peaks, walls, and tall hats. You almost never use it alone for “tall.”

The 峨眉 spelling is old: it occurs in Yang Xiong’s Western Han 蜀都赋, placing the word in Shu geography before later writing shortened the mountain’s name to 峨.

How does 峨 change inside a word?

Its companion sets the specific reading.

嵯峨 is steep and rugged, 巍峨 is lofty and majestic, and 峨然 describes something standing tall. 峨眉 and 峨嵋 are spellings of Mount Emei; 峩 is a variant form of the same character.