冬奥会
Dōng'ào​huì

Winter Olympics

冬 dōng winter

Original meaning: tip, extremity

Depicts a rope with knots at both ends. Originally written as 𠂂. Based on the original meaning "tip, extremity", now written as 終. The meaning later shifted to "winter" (the final season of the year), in which the 冫 (ice) component was then added to reinforce the meaning.

Components

𠂂
𠂂 SoundIconic component
zhōng tip, extremity

Depicts a rope with knots at both ends. Modern form looks like unrelated 夂.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𠂂 than it was in ancient scripts.
冫
冫 Meaning component
bīng ice

冫 is a component form of 冰.

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 Mid Warring States ~300 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
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

终疼咚佟氡螽終鼕柊

Iconic (2)

终終

Simplified (1)

图

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

柊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttowngtˤuŋ winter

說文解字

《說文》：“冬，四時盡也。从仌，从夂。夂，古文終字。，古文冬从日。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫徐中舒《甲骨文字典》p.1239中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

奥 aò, ào, yù mysterious Simplified

Original meaning: to store

Simplified form of 奧. Depicts two hands (廾) hiding rice (米) in a corner or a container. Based on the original meaning "to store". The meaning later shifted to "obscure", "profound", and "mysterious".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a hidden corner or a container.

米
米 Iconic component
mǐ rice

Depicts grains of rice.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Depicts two hands.

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

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

噢懊燠襖

說文解字

宛也。室之西南隅。从宀𢍏聲。

Sources

Character origin
鄔可晶《釋「奧」》Wiktionary (JA)
Readings & variants
Unicode
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

会 huì, kuài to gather Simplified

Simplified form of 會. Phonosemantic compound. 合 represents the meaning and 𡆧 represents the sound.

Components

合
合 MeaningSimplified component
hé to join
𡆧
𡆧 SoundSimplified component
guó ironware
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (1 of 12 verified)

绘刽荟桧烩脍狯哙浍鲙郐𬭇

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

侩

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.442
Readings & variants
Unicode

奧 mysterious Traditional

Original meaning: to store

Depicts two hands (廾) hiding rice (米) in a corner or a container. Based on the original meaning "to store". The meaning later shifted to "obscure", "profound", and "mysterious".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a hidden corner or a container.

米
米 Iconic component
mǐ rice

Depicts grains of rice. Modern form looks like 釆.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 米 than it was in ancient scripts.
廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Depicts two hands.

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

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

澳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'awHʔˤuk-s southwest corner of a house
'juwkʔ(r)uk cove in the bank of a stream

說文解字

《說文》：“奧，宛也。室之西南隅。从宀，聲。”

Sources

Character origin
鄔可晶《釋「奧」》Wiktionary (JA)
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

會 huì, kuài to gather Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 合 represents the meaning and 𡆧 represents the sound.

Components

合
合 Meaning component
hé to join
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 合 than it was in ancient scripts.
𡆧
𡆧 Sound component
guó ironware
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 11 verified)

劊癐噲膾廥檜燴繪𨭗薈鱠

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

儈廥

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwajHm-kˤop-s meeting; have a meeting
hwajHɦʷˤajs (< *m-kˤop-s)阿會亘 ēhuìxuān: Skt. ābhāsvara ‘shining’ (E. Hàn)
kwajHkˤop-s calculate; calculation

說文解字

《說文》：“會，合也。从亼，从曾省。曾，益也。令，古文會如此。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.442
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)