Original meaning: to embrace
Depicts a person (勹) hugging a child (子). Based on the original meaning "to embrace", now written as 抱. The meaning later shifted to "cover" and "wrap".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | paew | pˤ<r>u | wrap, bundle |
說文解字
《說文》：“包，象人褢妊，巳在中，象子未成形也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 谢明文《释甲骨文中的“抱”——兼论“包”字》
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Pictograph of a type of hunting or military tool.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kan | [k]ˤar | pole |
| kan | kˤa[r] | shield (n.) | |
| kan | kˤar | piece, item | |
| kan | kˤar | (placename) |
說文解字
《說文》：“干，犯也。从反入，从一。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.146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)
Traditional
Components
乙 Distinguishing component
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kan | [k]ˤar | dry |
| gjen | [g](r)ar | heaven; heavenly |
說文解字
《說文》：“乾，上出也。从乙。乙，物之達也。倝聲。，籀文乾。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.959-960
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)