削铅笔
xiāo​qiān​bǐ

sharpen a pencil

削 xuē, xiāo scrape off

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 肖 represents the sound.

Components

刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

肖
肖 Sound component
xiào look like

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsræwH[sˤ]rewk-szone near the capital
sjak[s]ewkscrape, pare
sjewH[s]ewk-sscrape, pare
Zhengzhangslewɢ
Unicodesiɑk

說文解字

鞞也。一曰析也。从刀肖聲。

Sources

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

铅 qiān lead (metal) Simplified

Simplified form of 鉛. Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 㕣 represents the sound.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

㕣
㕣 Sound component
yǎn a marsh at the foot of the hills

Sources

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

笔 bǐ writing utensil Simplified

Simplified form of 筆. Depicts a utensil for writing (聿) made from bamboo (⺮).

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

毛
毛 MeaningSimplified component
máo, mao hair

Shorthand for the 聿 component in the traditional character 筆.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

滗

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鉛 qiān lead (metal) Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 㕣 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
㕣
㕣 Sound component
yǎn a marsh at the foot of the hills

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhanglon
Unicodeiuɛn

說文解字

《說文》：“鉛，青金也。从金，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)

筆 bǐ writing utensil Traditional

Depicts a utensil for writing (聿) made from bamboo (⺮).

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

聿
聿 Meaning component
yù writing brush

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpitp.[r]ut (borrowed as *prut from Qín dialect)writing brush

說文解字

《說文》：“筆，秦謂之筆。从聿，从竹。”

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)