秋 a cricket

秋 is shaped like a cricket in the oracle bone inscription to express the concept of “autumn”.  Another way of its original writing in oracle bone inscription is to add a”火 fire” under the shape of a cricket, which means that the crops are ripe in autumn and they are like burning fire. 

秋 serves as a phonetic component to form characters.

Characters formed by the phonetic Component 秋

楸 鳅 萩 媝 篍 蝵 鞦 鹙 篍 qiū

瞅 偢 chǒu

锹鍫 qiāo

甃 僽 zhòu

愁  chóu

愀 qiǎo

醔 qiú

鬏 jiū

See also the component 禾 and the component 火

Common words and set phrases of 秋