五色缤纷
wǔ​sè​bīn​fēn

multicolored

五 wǔ five

Origin unclear. Originally an X-shape.

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

伍吾

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

伍

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnguXC.ŋˤaʔ five

說文解字

《說文》：“五，五行也。从二。陰陽在天地間交午也。，古文五省。”

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)

色 sè color

Original meaning: press down

Depicts a kneeling person (卩) being pushed down by a hand (爪). Based on the original meaning "press down", now written as 抑. The current meaning "color" is a phonetic loan.

Components

爪
爪 Iconic component
zhǎo, zhuǎ hand, claw
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 爪 than it was in ancient scripts.
卩
卩 Iconic component
jié person kneeling
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 卩 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

艳艴艷

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

铯

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsriks.rək color; countenance

說文解字

《說文》：“色，顏气也。从人，从卪。，古文。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.711-712
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

缤 bīn flourishing Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 宾 represents the sound. Simplified form of 繽.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

宾
宾 Sound component
bīn guest

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

纷 fēn scattered, numerous Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 分 represents the sound. Simplified form of 紛.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

分
分 Sound component
fēn, fèn, fen divide

Sources

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

繽 flourishing Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 賓 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

賓
賓 Sound component
bīn guest

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰin

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

紛 fēn scattered, numerous Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 分 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

分
分 Sound component
fēn, fèn, fen divide

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰɯn
Unicodepiən

說文解字

《說文》：“紛，馬尾韜也。从糸，分聲。”

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)