Silk-Reeling Character

It means drawing silk from cocoons and winding it into thread.

The silk-work sense appears in the pre-Qin/Han tradition—the texts preserved from before and during China's Qin and Han dynasties. Shuowen, an early Chinese character dictionary, defines it as drawing silk from cocoons. The work boils cocoons, draws out several filaments, joins them, and winds the thread.

What does 繅 mean in classical Chinese?

It can name multicolored ritual cloth and a support for jade.

Classical texts also use it for patterned woven decoration and for a mat or woven support placed beneath jade objects in ceremonies. By the Tang dynasty, Chinese texts record reeling wheels; by the Song dynasty, some were foot-powered.

Why can 繅 look different in another font?

Regional fonts can use different standard shapes for one character.

Fonts for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean text can choose different regional designs for the same encoded Han character. A visual change alone does not establish a different encoded character.