世间
shì​jiān

world

世 shì generation

Original meaning: leaf

Depicts three leaves on branches of a tree. Remnant from the top part of 枼. Based on the original meaning "leaf", now written as 葉. The meaning later shifted to "generation", since leaves pile up in hundreds much like a generation.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

泄绁贳

Iconic (1)

枼

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyejHl̥ap-s generation

說文解字

《說文》：“世，三十年為一世，从卉而曳長之，亦取其聲也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.159劉志基《中國漢字文物大系》Vol 3, p.70
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

间 jiān, jian, jiàn space Simplified

Simplified form of 間. Depicts sunlight (日) shining through the gap in a door (門).

Components

门
门 Iconic component
mén, men door
日
日 Iconic component
rì sun

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

简涧锏裥

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

涧

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

間 jiān, jian, jiàn space Traditional

Depicts sunlight (日) shining through the gap in a door (門).

Components

門
門 Iconic component
mén, men door
日
日 Iconic component
rì sun

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

簡澗

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

澗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkeankˤre[n] interval
keankˤre[n] 間關 sound of a chariot's linchpin (Ode 218.1)
heanN-kˤre[n] idle

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart