宁缺毋滥
nìng​quē​wú​làn

quality over quantity

宁 níng, nìng peaceful, (storage container) Simplified

Original meaning: storage container

Pictograph of a container for storing things. Original form of 貯. In simplified Chinese 宁 is also used to mean "peaceful", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 寧.

Character Evolution

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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

拧狞泞柠咛聍貯苧

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

泞佇

Iconic (1)

貯

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangda
daʔ

說文解字

《說文》：“宁，辨積物也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》 p.1508-1509
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

缺 quē be short of, lack

Original meaning: damaged object

Phonosemantic compound. 缶 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound.

Components

缶
缶 Meaning component
fǒu pottery
Change in meaning
缶 hints at the original meaning of 缺, "damaged object", which is no longer the most common meaning of 缺 in modern Mandarin.
夬
夬 Sound component
guài, jué parted
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhwetNə-[k]ʷʰˤet break; defective

說文解字

《說文》：“缺，器破也。从缶，決省聲。”

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)

毋 wú, móu do not

Originally written and pronounced the same as 母 (mother). Later it was slightly altered so the two characters could be distinguished.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1)

毐

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjumo don't

說文解字

《說文》：“毋，止之也。从女，有奸之者。”

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)

滥 làn flood Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 监 represents the sound. Simplified form of 濫.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

监
监 Sound component
jiān watch carefully

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

寧 níng, nìng peaceful Traditional

Depicts a peaceful place with food to eat (寍). 丂 was added to depict a table.

Components

寍
寍 SoundMeaning component
níng peaceful
丂
丂 Iconic component
kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts a table.

Character Evolution

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 Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

檸嚀濘擰

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

濘

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnengnˤeŋ peace

說文解字

《說文》：“寧，願詞也。从丂，寍聲。”

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)

濫 làn flood Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 監 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

監
監 Sound component
jiān watch carefully

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡ·raːms
ɡraːmʔ

說文解字

氾也。从水監聲。一曰濡上及下也。《詩》曰：“𧥑沸濫泉。”一曰清也。

Sources

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