帕累托最优
Pà​lèi​tuō​zuì​yōu

Pareto optimality

帕 pà turban

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 白 represents the sound.

Components

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth
白
白 Sound component
bái, bai white

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰraːɡs
mbraːd

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

累 lèi, lěi tired

Simplified form of 纍. 田 is shorthand for the phonetic component 畾. 糸 represents the meaning "wind around, bind". The meaning later expanded to "tired".

Components

田
田 Simplified component
tián field

Shorthand for the phonetic component 畾.

糸
糸 Meaning component
mì, sī silk

Character Evolution

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 9 verified)

螺骡摞嫘漯缧瘰镙騾

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

摞

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartljwe[r]oj rope (to tie s.o. up)
ljweX[r]ojʔ accumulate

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

托 tuō to hold up, support

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 乇 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

乇
乇 Sound component
tuō, zhé to depend on

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangl̥ʰaːɡ

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

最 zuì most

Original meaning: gather

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 取 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "gather". The meaning later shifted to "accumulate", "many" and "most". Originally written as 㝡. Later extra strokes were added to the 宀 component.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof

Depicts gathering many things in one building. Originally written as 宀, later extra strokes were added.

Change in meaning
宀 hints at the original meaning of 最, "gather", which is no longer the most common meaning of 最 in modern Mandarin.
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 宀 than it was in ancient scripts.
取
取 Sound component
qǔ take
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

撮嘬蕞

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttswajH[ts]ˤot-s collect; most

說文解字

《說文》：“最，犯而取也。从冃，从取。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.617
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

优 yōu superior Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 尤 represents the sound. Simplified form of 優.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

尤
尤 Sound component
yóu especially

Sources

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

優 yōu superior Traditional

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

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

憂
憂 Sound component
yōu sad

Character Evolution

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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'juwʔ(r)u entertainer; liberal

說文解字

《說文》：“優，饒也。从人，憂聲。一曰倡也。”

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)