印子钱
yìn​zi​qián

usury

印 yìn print

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

爪
爪 Iconic component
zhǎo, zhuǎ hand, claw
卩
卩 Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2)

抑茚

Meaning (1)

茚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
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)

子 zi, zǐ child

Pictograph of a small child with its two arms waving.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (10 of 21 verified)

好存字李孩孙季孤仔孟孽籽孺孢孪孳孥囝孫孨孿

Iconic (15)

了学教保包孔乳孕孝孚孛孑孓斿學

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

字仔孜籽耔

Remnant (3)

了孑孓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsiX[ts]əʔ 1st earthly branch
tsiXtsəʔ child; gentleman, master

說文解字

《說文》：“子，十一月陽气動，萬物滋，人以為偁。象形。，古文子，从巛，象髮也。，籀文子，囟有髮，臂、脛在几上也。”

Sources

Character origin
徐中舒《甲骨文字典》p.1571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)

钱 qián, qian money Simplified

Simplified form of 錢. Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 戋 represents the sound.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal
戋
戋 Sound component
jiān, cán small

Sources

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

錢 qián, qian money Traditional

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

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
戔
戔 Sound component
small

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
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-SagartdzjenN-ts[a][n] coin, money

說文解字

《說文》：“錢，銚也，古田器。从金，戔聲。《詩》曰：‘庤乃錢鎛。’”

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)