七星瓢虫
qī​xīng​piáo​chóng

seven-spotted ladybug

七 qī seven

Original meaning: cut

Depicts two lines crossing. Based on the original meaning "cut", now written as 切. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2)

切叱

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

柒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshit[tsʰ]i[t] seven

說文解字

《說文》：“七，陽之正也。从一，微陰从中衺出也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.951-952
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

星 xīng a star

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 生 represents the sound.

Components

日
日 Meaning component
rì sun
生
生 Sound component
shēng, sheng life

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze ~1200 - 221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

醒猩腥惺戥

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

惺

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsengs-tsʰˤeŋ star

說文解字

《說文》：“曐，萬物之精，上為列星。从晶，生聲。一曰象形，从口，古口復注中，故與日同。，古文星。星，曐或省。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

瓢 piáo ladle made from dried gourd

Phonosemantic compound. 瓜 represents the meaning and 票 represents the sound.

Components

瓜
瓜 Meaning component
guā melon
票
票 Sound component
piào slip of paper or bamboo

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjiew(Cə.)[b]ewgourd
Zhengzhangbew
Unicodebhiɛu

說文解字

蠡也。从瓠省，㶾聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

虫 chóng bug, insect Simplified

Original meaning: viper

Pictograph of a snake.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (10 of 196 verified)

虽蛋蛇蜂蜜蛮虹蝶螺蚁蜡蚀蛛蝇蚕虾蚂蛙蚊蝴浊蜘蝉蟹蝗闽蝠蛾萤蛟蠕螂茧蜕蜒蜷蟒蜗螅蛤蟋蟀蝙蟆蜿蜈蝎蟾螃蚌蛹蛀虱蛔蚪蜻蚤蜓蚓蚣蝌蚯蛐蛰蠡蛆蛭螳蟑蟠蟮蜃蜥蛳蚱蚜蝮蛎蚩蛉虻蜴蠹蜚螨蜇蠼蜊蝈蚝蟪蚨蚴蛴蛞蛩蠖螫蛄虼蚧蠓螟蚋蟛蜍蜢蠊蛱螈蟊蛘螭蝼虺虿蛑蜮螯蚬蛏蠛蜣蜉蚶螬蝽雖蝣虮蚰螽蛲蚍蟥蝾蚵螓蝻螋蚺蝓蝰蜱蛸蝥蜾蜩蝦螵蠃蜞蝤螗蟬蝟蟭蟻蟓螞蠻蠔虰蛻蚖蜎蝕蟯蠣蛜蟜蠅蝸螢蠍蠟蟢螻螉蟈螾蟏蟄蛺蠨蟣蠑蠵蟟螮閩蟎螄蠮蛵繭

Iconic (4)

蜀蛊蟲䖵

Simplified (2)

独触

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

融烛

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhanghŋlulʔ

說文解字

《說文》：“虫，一名蝮，博三寸，首大如擘指。象其卧形。物之微細，或行，或毛，或蠃，或介，或鱗，以虫為象。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

蟲 insects Traditional

Triple of 虫.

Components

虫
虫 Iconic component
chóng bug, insect
虫
虫 Iconic component
chóng bug, insect
虫
虫 Iconic component
chóng bug, insect

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (1)

蠱

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdrjuwngC.lruŋ insect

說文解字

《說文》：“蟲，有足謂之蟲，無足謂之豸。从三虫。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)