měi

to request

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

water

Sound component
miǎn (hat), avoid

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmwojXmˤ[u]rʔdefile (v.)
mwojXmˤərʔsmoothly flowing water
Zhengzhangmuːlʔ

說文解字

汙也。从水免聲。《詩》曰:“河水浼浼。”《孟子》曰:“汝安能浼我?”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica