平庸之辈
píng​yōng​zhī​bèi

nobody

平 píng flat

Original meaning: to strike

Depicts using a staff (丂) for striking. Based on the original meaning "to strike", now written as 抨. The meaning later shifted to "level", "even", and "flat".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts the moving motion of striking.

丂
丂 Iconic component
kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts a staff.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 丂 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 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 (5 of 11 verified)

评苹坪砰抨怦鲆枰評泙鮃

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

坪秤枰

Iconic (1)

抨

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjien[b]en distinguish; punctiious
bjaengbreŋ even (adj.)
bjaengm-breŋ make even

說文解字

《說文》：“平，語平舒也。从亏，从八。八，分也。”

Sources

Character origin
王森《甲骨文、金文所谓“乎”字当释为“平”字》
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

庸 yōng usual

Components

广
广 Unknown component
guǎng roof
彐
彐 Unknown component
jì snout
用
用 Sound component
yòng, yong use

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

慵镛墉鳙傭鱅

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyowngloŋuse; advantage
Zhengzhangloŋ
Unicodeiong

說文解字

用也。从用从庚。庚，更事也。《易》曰：“先庚三日。”

Sources

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

之 zhī [attributive particle]

Original meaning: go forwards

Pictograph of a foot (止) going out of an area. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

止
止 SoundIconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.
一
一 Iconic component
yī one

Used here to depict an area.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 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
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

志寺芝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyitə go to
tsyitə (3p object pronoun; attributive particle)

說文解字

《說文》：“之，出也。象艸過屮，枝莖益大有所之。一者，地也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.498-499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)

辈 bèi generation, lifetime Simplified

Original meaning: large group of chariots

Phonosemantic compound. 车 represents the meaning and 非 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "large group of chariots". The meaning later shifted to "group of things" and "generation". Simplified form of 輩.

Components

非
非 Sound component
fēi not
车
车 Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle
Change in meaning
车 hints at the original meaning of 辈, "large group of chariots", which is no longer the most common meaning of 辈 in modern Mandarin.

Sources

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

輩 bèi generation, lifetime Traditional

Original meaning: large group of chariots

Phonosemantic compound. 車 represents the meaning and 非 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "large group of chariots". The meaning later shifted to "group of things" and "generation".

Components

非
非 Sound component
fēi not
車
車 Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle
Change in meaning
車 hints at the original meaning of 輩, "large group of chariots", which is no longer the most common meaning of 輩 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpuːls
Unicodebə̀i

說文解字

《說文》：“輩，若軍發車百兩為一輩。从車，非聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)