Mò​qí

Moqi

wàn ten thousand

Original meaning: to not be seen

Simplified form of . Variant of . Depicts a person () with a cover on top, conveying the original meaning "to not be seen". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Iconic component
one

Used here to depict a cover.

Iconic component
rén, ren person

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmans
mɯːɡ

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.701黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2839-2840
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

qí, sì wait for

A person  waiting for something to finish  also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
rén person
SoundMeaning component
yǐ, xián particle of completed action

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzriXs-[ɢ]rəʔwait
zriXs.[ɢ]rəʔmove on
Zhengzhangsɢrɯʔ
ɡlɯl

說文解字

大也。从人矣聲。《詩》曰:“伾伾俟俟。”

Sources

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