含垢忍辱
hán​gòu​rěn​rǔ

endure humiliation

含 hán contain, hold in mouth

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 今 represents the sound.

Components

今
今 Sound component
jīn now
Change in sound
口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

颔晗焓頷唅

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

唅

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthomCə-m-kˤ[ə]m hold in the mouth
homHCə-m-[k]ˤ[ə]m-s to put in the mouth

說文解字

《說文》：“含，嗛也。从口，今聲。”

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)

垢 gòu dirt

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 后 represents the sound.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
后
后 Sound component
hòu queen, after

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkoːʔ
Unicodegǒu

說文解字

濁也。从土后聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

忍 rěn endure

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 刃 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
刃
刃 Sound component
rèn knife edge

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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

Component uses

Sound (1)

認

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyinXnə[n]ʔ cruel
nyinXnə[n]ʔ endure

說文解字

《說文》：“忍，能也。从心，刃聲。”

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)

辱 rǔ humiliate

Original meaning: to use a farming tool for weeding

Depicts a hand (寸) using a farming tool (辰) to remove dirty weeds. Based on the original meaning "to use a farming tool for weeding", now written as 耨. The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "disgrace" and "humiliate".

Components

辰
辰 Iconic component
chén early morning

Depicts a farming tool.

寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 7 verified)

褥耨缛溽蓐縟媷

Iconic (1)

耨

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyowknok disgrace

說文解字

《說文》：“辱，耻也。从寸在辰下。失耕時，於封畺上戮之也。辰者，農之時也。故房星為辰，田候也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.1285
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)