大写锁定
dà​xiě​suǒ​dìng

caps lock

大 dà, dài big

Depicts an adult man facing forward and standing erect. The meaning later shifted to "big".

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (9 of 21 verified)

去太奇套尖奈赤契夸奎奢奕叁奘夯奁夼尜奩奓𢧤

Iconic (21)

天因美夫央亦乘衡牵熊夹爽奚鬱粦耎夨叕夾椉業

Sound (6 of 11 verified)

太达夺泰驮耷奪馱忕羍旲

Simplified (4)

类奖奋庆

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

爨䙴

Deleted (1)

业

Remnant (1)

椉

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdaHlˤat-s (MC F!)big
dajHlˤa[t]-s big

說文解字

《說文》：“大，天大、地大、人亦大，故大象人形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.764
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

写 xiě write Simplified

Original meaning: relocate

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 舄 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "relocate". The meaning later shifted to "copy" and "write". The simplified character 写 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 寫.

Components

冖
冖 Meaning component
mì cover

冖 is a component form of 宀.

Change in meaning
冖 hints at the original meaning of 写, "relocate", which is no longer the most common meaning of 写 in modern Mandarin.
与
与 Simplified component
yǔ, yù and

Shorthand for the 舄 component in the traditional character 寫.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

泻

Sources

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

锁 suǒ lock Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 𭕆 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鎖.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

𭕆
𭕆 Sound component
suǒ fragments

Sources

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

定 dìng settle

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 正 represents the sound.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
正
正 Sound component
zhèng, zheng, zhēng correct
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 9 verified)

绽淀锭啶碇靛腚錠綻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdengHN-tˤeŋ-s become fixed; settled (v.i.)
dengHm-tˤeŋ-s make fixed, settle (v.t.)
tengHtˤeŋ-s ready-cooked (food)

說文解字

《說文》：“定，安也。从宀，从正。”

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)

寫 xiě write Traditional

Original meaning: relocate

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 舄 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "relocate". The meaning later shifted to "copy" and "write".

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
Change in meaning
宀 hints at the original meaning of 寫, "relocate", which is no longer the most common meaning of 寫 in modern Mandarin.
舄
舄 Sound component
xì, què, tuō a shoe

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

瀉

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjaeXs-qʰAʔ depict
sjaeXs-qʰAʔ drain off

說文解字

《說文》：“寫，置物也。从宀，舄聲。”

Sources

Character origin
Wiktionary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)

鎖 suǒ lock Traditional

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

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
𧴪
𧴪 Sound component
suǒ fragments

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartswaX[s]ˤojʔ chain

說文解字

《說文新附》：“鎖，鐵鎖，門鍵也。从金，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)