小二
xiǎo'èr

waiter

小 xiǎo small

Depicts three small dots, representing the meaning "small". Originally the same character as 少. The small dots possibly represent grains of sand (沙).

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 8 verified)

孙尖尘肖隙尕尜尗

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

肖県

Iconic (2)

𭕆𧴪

Simplified (1)

孙

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjewX[s]ewʔ small

說文解字

《說文》：“小，物之微也。从八，丨見而分之。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.79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)

二 èr two

Two horizontal strokes, representing the number two.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 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
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

Meaning (4 of 8 verified)

些次再仁竺贰佞貳

Sound (1)

次

Simplified (1)

兰

Distinguishing (1)

亘

Iconic (1)

亙

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyijHni[j]-s two

說文解字

《說文》：“二，地之數也。从偶一。弍，古文。”

Sources

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