临门一脚 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

lín draw near Simplified

Original meaning: to look down

Simplified form of 臨. Depicts a person (人) looking (臣) down at a pile of objects (品). 品 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning, "to look down". The meaning has shifted over time and now means "draw near".

Components

臣 Iconic Simplified component

chén minister

Depicts an eye.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 臣 than it was in ancient scripts.

人 Iconic component

rén, ren person

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 人 than it was in ancient scripts.

品 Sound Iconic Simplified component

pǐn product

Here used to depict a pile of objects.

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.728-729
Readings & variants: Unicode

mén, men door Simplified

Simplified form of 門. Pictograph of a gate.

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 32 verified)

阅闲阔阁闯阐阎阀闸闺阙阑阉阂闩闾阖闱阈闶闼阋阕闳阏阒阍阆阃闫阊阚 show all 32 show fewer

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

yī one

A single horizontal stroke, representing the number one.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Iconic (9)

生之方或万旦曰巿丏

Meaning (2 of 7 verified)

百千兹闩戛晉閂

Unknown (2)

昼晝

Distinguishing (1)

夫

Simplified (1)

丛

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'jit	ʔi[t]	one

說文解字

《說文》：“一，惟初太始，道立於一，造分天地，化成萬物。弌，古文一。”

Sources

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

jiǎo leg Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 却 represents the sound. Simplified form of 腳.

Components

⺼ Meaning component

ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

却 Sound component

què but

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kjak	[k]ak	leg, foot

Sources

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

lín draw near Traditional

Original meaning: to look down

Depicts a person (人) looking (臣) down at a pile of objects (品). 品 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning, "to look down". The meaning has shifted over time and now means "draw near".