Original meaning: to finish sewing clothes
Depicts clothing (衣) with intersecting lines indicating that the clothing is done being sewed. Based on the original meaning, "to finish sewing clothes". The meaning later shifted to "to finish" and "to die" while its other meaning "soldier" is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tswit | [ts]ut | finish, die |
| tswot | [ts]ˤut | soldier |
說文解字
《說文》：“卒，隸人給事者衣為卒。卒，衣有題識者。”
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)
Simplified
Phonosemantic compound. 步 represents the meaning and 戉 represents the sound. The simplified character 岁 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 歲.
Components
山 Simplified component
Shorthand for the 步 component in the traditional character 歲.
夕 Simplified component
Shorthand for the 戉 component in the traditional character 歲.
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sjwejH | s-qʷʰat-s | year |
說文解字
《說文》：“歲，木星也。越歷二十八宿，宣徧陰陽，十二月一次。从步，戌聲。律歷書名五星為五步。”
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)