医务所
yī​wù​suǒ

clinic

医 yī medicine Simplified

Original meaning: quiver

Originally depicted a quiver, a container for arrows. Later repurposed to mean "medicine" as a simplified form of the traditional character 醫.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a quiver of arrows.

矢
矢 Iconic component
shǐ arrow

Depicts an arrow.


Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

殹

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangqiːs

說文解字

《說文》：“医，盛弓弩矢器也。从匸，从矢。”

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)

务 wu, wù business Simplified

Simplified form of 務. Phonosemantic compound. 矛 represents the sound, while 攵 and 力 both represent the meaning. The traditional component 矛 was removed for simplification.

Components

務
矛 Deleted component
máo spear
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

雾

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

所 suǒ place

Origin unclear. 戶 represents the sound.

Components

戶
戶 Sound component
hù, hu door
Change in sound
斤
斤 Meaning component
jīn axe

The original purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsrjoXs-qʰ<r>aʔ place (n.); that which
xuXqʰaʔ 所所 = 許許 = 滸滸 sound of hewing wood

說文解字

《說文》：“所，伐木聲也。从斤，戶聲。”

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)

醫 yī medicine Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 酉 represents the meaning and 殹 represents the sound. The 酉 component is a pictograph of a container for wine, which is sometimes used for medicinal purposes.

Components

殹
殹 Sound component
yì an echo
酉
酉 Meaning component
yǒu wine

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangqɯ

說文解字

《說文》：“醫，治病工也。殹，惡姿也，醫之性然。得酒而使。从酉。王育說。一曰殹，病聲。酒，所以治病也。《周禮》有醫酒。古者巫彭初作醫。”

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)

務 wu, wù business Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 矛 represents the sound, while 攵 and 力 both represent the meaning.

Components

矛
矛 Sound component
máo spear
Change in sound
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

霧

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjuHm(r)o-s exert oneself

說文解字

趣也。从力敄聲。

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)