芟
shān

mow

Depicts using a tool (殳) to cut out or mow grass (艹).

Components

艹
艹 Iconic component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

殳
殳 Iconic component
shū weapon or tool

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsraem[s]ˤr[a]m mow (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“芟，刈艸也。从艸，从殳。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.51
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)