商户
shāng​hù

firm

商 shāng commerce, business

Origin unclear. Composed of 辛 (chisel) and 丙 (pedestal) with 口 being later added as a distinguishing component for the name of an ancient kingdom.

Components

辛
辛 Unknown component
xīn laborious

The purpose of this component is unclear.

丙
丙 Unknown component
bǐng third

The purpose of this component is unclear.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

This component was later added when the character was used for the name of an ancient kingdom.

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 Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

熵墒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyangs-taŋ musical note
syangs-taŋ (place name)
syangs-taŋ estimate; business; trader

說文解字

《說文》：“商，从外知內也。从，章省聲。，古文商。，亦古文商。，籀文商。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫The Outlier Linguistics Dictionary of Chinese Characters中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

户 hù, hu door Simplified

Variant of 戶. Pictograph of a door, similar to the left half of 門.

Component uses

Meaning (4 of 14 verified)

房居层屏扇庐扉牖扃綮扆啓層扂

Sound (3 of 10 verified)

护雇炉芦驴妒沪庐扈戽

Iconic (5)

启扁戾𢻻啟

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodehǒ

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.833
Readings & variants
Unicode

戶 hù, hu door Traditional

Pictograph of a door, similar to the left half of 門.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (2)

仓倉

Sound (1)

所

Simplified (1)

仓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthuXm-qˤaʔ to stop, to check
huXm-qˤaʔ door

說文解字

《說文》：“戶，護也。半門曰戶，象形。，古文戶从木。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.833
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)