大规模杀伤性武器
dà​guī​mó​shā​shāng​xìng​wǔ​qì

weapon of mass destruction

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)

规 guī rules Simplified

Original meaning: compass; a kind of drawing tool

Simplified form of 規. Depicts a kind of drawing tool for drawing circles with. The 见 (see) component was later added to suggest watching something being drawn. Based on the original meaning "compass; a kind of drawing tool", now written as 椝. The meaning has shifted over time and now means "rules".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a compass or a kind of drawing tool. Modern form looks like unrelated 夫.

见
见 Meaning component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

窥

Sources

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

模 mó, mú model

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 莫 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
莫
莫 Sound component
mò, mo do not

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmumˤa model

說文解字

《說文》：“模，法也。从木，莫聲。讀若嫫母之嫫。”

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)

杀 shā kill Simplified

Simplified form of 殺. Depicts a person being decapitated.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

刹脎剎

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

铩弑弒

Iconic (1)

殺

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.231-232
Readings & variants
Unicode

伤 shāng wound Simplified

Simplified form of 傷. Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 昜 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

◎
◎ Unknown component
characterless component
力
力 Simplified component
lì, li power

Shorthand for the phonetic 昜 component in the traditional character 傷.

Sources

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

性 xìng, xing nature

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 生 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

生
生 Sound component
shēng, sheng life

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjengHseŋ-s nature

說文解字

《說文》：“性，人之陽气性善者也。从心，生聲。”

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)

武 wǔ military

Depicts marching (止) with a weapon (戈).

Components

戈
戈 Iconic component
gē spear
止
止 Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.


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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 4 verified)

赋鹉賦鵡

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

赋賦

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

斌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjuXm(r)aʔ military

說文解字

《說文》：“武，楚莊王曰：夫武，定功戢兵。故止戈為武。”

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)

器 qì receptacle

Origin unclear.

Components

㗊
㗊 Unknown component
jí, léi clamour, noise
犬
犬 Unknown component
quǎn dog

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhijH[kʰ]r[ə][t]-s vessel; instrument

說文解字

《說文》：“器，皿也。象器之口，犬所以守之。”

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)

規 guī rules Traditional

Original meaning: compass; a kind of drawing tool

Depicts a kind of drawing tool for drawing circles with. The 見 (see) component was later added to suggest watching something being drawn. Based on the original meaning "compass; a kind of drawing tool", now written as 槼. The meaning has shifted over time and now means "rules".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a compass or a kind of drawing tool. Modern form looks like unrelated 夫.

見
見 Meaning component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 1 verified)

窺

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjwiekʷe compass, circle

說文解字

《說文》：“規，有法度也。从夫，从見。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫Wenlin Dictionaries
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

殺 shā kill Traditional

Depicts a person being decapitated (杀) with a weapon (殳).

Components

杀
杀 Iconic component
shā kill

Depicts a person being decapitated.

殳
殳 Iconic component
shū weapon or tool

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

鎩

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsreats<r>at kill
sreajHs<r>at-s diminish

說文解字

《說文》：“殺，戮也。从殳，杀聲。，古文殺；，古文殺；，古文殺。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.231-232
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

傷 shāng wound Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 𬀷 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

𬀷
𬀷 SoundMeaning component
shāng to injure

Character Evolution

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 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyangl̥aŋ wound

說文解字

《說文》：“傷，創也。从人，省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫zi.tools
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)