威士忌
wēi​shì​jì

whiskey

威 wēi power

Depicts a weapon (戌) used to force a woman (女) into submission.

Components

戌
戌 Iconic component
xū, qu 11th terrestrial branch

Depicts an axe.

女
女 Iconic component
nǚ, nü woman

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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 2 verified)

崴葳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jw+jʔuj awe-inspiring

說文解字

《說文》：“威，姑也。从女，从戌。《漢律》曰：‘婦告威姑。’”

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)

士 shì, shi scholar, soldier

Pictograph of the head of an axe. Used to represent a soldier.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
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 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 (1 of 3 verified)

在仕悫

Meaning (3)

壮毐壯

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzriX[m-s-]rəʔ officer; gentleman

說文解字

《說文》：“士，事也。數始於一，終於十。从一，从十。孔子曰：‘推十合一為士。’”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.59-60
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

忌 jì jealous

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

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
己
己 Sound component
jǐ self

Character Evolution

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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

跽

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgiHm-k(r)ək-swarn; avoid
Zhengzhangɡɯs
Unicodeghiə̀

說文解字

憎惡也。从心己聲。

Sources

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