佣兵
yōng​bīng

mercenary

佣 yōng, yòng, chōng commission (for middleman) Simplified

An employed 用 person 亻; 用 also provides the pronunciation

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person
用
用 SoundMeaning component
yòng, yong use

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangloŋs

Sources

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

兵 bīng soldier

Pictograph of two hands (廾) holding a weapon.

Components

斤
斤 Iconic component
jīn axe

Depicts a weapon.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Depicts two hands.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 4 verified)

宾乒乓浜

Remnant (2)

乒乓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjaengpraŋ weapon

說文解字

《說文》：“，械也。从廾持斤，并力之皃。，古文兵从人、廾、干。兵，籀文。”

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)

傭 commission fee Traditional

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

person

庸
庸 Sound component
yōng usual

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyowngloŋhire
Zhengzhangl̥ʰoŋ
loŋ

說文解字

均直也。从人庸聲。

Sources

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