Original meaning: thread spool
Pictograph of a warp beam used for holding silk in, also known as a spool. The modern meaning "9th heavenly stem" is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nyim | n[ə]m | 9th heavenly stem |
說文解字
《說文》：“壬，位北方也。陰極陽生，故《易》曰：‘龍戰于野。’戰者，接也。象人褢妊之形。承亥壬以子，生之敘也。與巫同意。壬承辛，象人脛。脛，任體也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 古今文字集成
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)