兹 two strands of twisted silk

In oracle bone script and seal script, 兹 depicts two strands of twisted silk. It is the cognate of 丝. In clerical script, 艹 is added to express the meaning that the grass grows like strands of silk. 

兹 serves as a phonetic component to form characters.

Characters formed by the phonetic component 兹

慈、磁、糍、甆、鹚  have the same pronunciation cí

滋、孳、 鎡、 镃、 稵、 嗞、  嵫、 禌 have the same pronunciation zī

螆、cì

See also the Component 丝

You may not want to miss out the component 系 too.

Common words and set phrases of 兹