Original meaning: restrain
Pictograph of a kneeling person (卩) being held down by a hand (爪). Based on the original meaning "restrain", now written as 抑. The meaning later shifted to "push down", "stamp", and "print".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'jinH | [ʔ]iŋ-s | seal |
說文解字
執政所持信也。从爪从卪。凡印之屬皆从印。
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)
Depicts a person squatting (尸) and holding a utensil (刂 ) attached to a cloth (巾) to scrub or clean something.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | srjwet | [s]r[o]t (dialect: retains MC srj-) | brush (v.) |
| srwaet | [s]r[o]t | brush (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“刷，刮也。从刀，省聲。《禮》：‘布刷巾。’”
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
Original meaning: city road
Simplified form of 術. Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 朮 represents the sound. The traditional component 行 was removed for simplification. Based on the original meaning "city road". The meaning later shifted to "way", "method", "technique", and "skill".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
說文解字
《說文》：“秫，稷之黏者。从禾、术，象形。术，秫或省禾。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Original meaning: city road
Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 朮 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "city road". The meaning later shifted to "way", "method", "technique", and "skill".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | zywit | Cə-lut | technique |
說文解字
《說文》：“術，邑中道也。从行，术聲。”
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)