wēi​dǔ

critically ill

wēi dangerous

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

SoundIconic component
zhān, wěi high and dangerous, look upward

Depicts a person () standing precariously on the edge of a cliff ().

Meaning component
jié person kneeling

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjwe[ŋ](r)[o]j in danger

說文解字

《說文》:“危,在高而懼也。从厃,自卪止之。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

deep Simplified

No origin information available for this character yet.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

deep Traditional

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttowktˤukfirm, solid
Zhengzhangtuːɡ

說文解字

馬行頓遟。从馬竹聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica