严阵以待
yán​zhèn​yǐ​dài

be battle-ready

严 yán strict Simplified

Simplified form of 嚴. Phonosemantic compound. 喦 represents the meaning and 敢 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "exaggerate". The meaning later shifted to "extreme", "severe", and "strict". The traditional component 敢 was removed for simplification.

Components

喦
喦 MeaningSimplified component
niè, yì talkative
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 喦 than it was in ancient scripts.
嚴
敢 Deleted component
gǎn to dare

The traditional component 敢 was removed for simplification.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

俨酽

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

酽

Sources

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

阵 zhèn burst, array of troops Simplified

Simplified form of 陣. Depicts a formation (阝) of soldiers in chariots (车).

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

车
车 Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

以 yǐ by means of

Original meaning: carry

Depicts a person (人) carrying something.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts something being carried.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

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 Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Eastern Han 25-220 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

似拟苡姒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyiXləʔ take, use

說文解字

《說文》：“，用也。从反已。賈侍中說，已，意已實也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.980
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

待 dài wait, stay, treat

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

寺
寺 Sound component
sì, shì temple
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdojX[d]ˤəʔ wait on; depend on

說文解字

《說文》：“待，竢也。从彳，寺聲。”

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)

嚴 yán strict Traditional

Original meaning: exaggerate

Phonosemantic compound. 喦 represents the meaning and 敢 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "exaggerate". The meaning later shifted to "extreme", "severe", and "strict".

Components

喦
喦 Meaning component
niè, yì talkative
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 喦 than it was in ancient scripts.
敢
敢 Sound component
gǎn to dare

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 2 verified)

儼巖

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjaemŋ(r)am stern, majestic

說文解字

《說文》：“嚴，教命急也。从吅，聲。，古文。”

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)

陣 zhèn burst, array of troops Traditional

Depicts a formation (阝) of soldiers in chariots (車).

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

車
車 Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdrinHlri[n]-s battle array

Sources

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