废弃物
fèi​qì​wù

waste

废 fèi discard, abandon Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 发 represents the sound. Simplified form of 廢.

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
发
发 Sound component
fā, fa, fà issue

Sources

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

弃 qì abandon Simplified

Simplified form of 棄. Pictograph of two hands (廾) putting a child (𠫓) in a basket (其) for the purpose of abandoning or disposing with it. The traditional component 其 was removed for simplification.

Components

𠫓
𠫓 Iconic component
tū, yù newborn

Upside-down form of 子 (child).

棄
其 Deleted component
qí its, his, (3p possessive)

The traditional component 其 depicting a basket was removed for simplification.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Character Evolution

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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhjijH[kʰ]i[t]-s throw away, abandon

說文解字

《說文》：“棄，捐也。从廾推棄之，从，，逆子也。弃，古文棄。”

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)

物 wù, wu thing

Original meaning: varicolored cow

Phonosemantic compound. 牛 represents the meaning and 勿 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "variety", depicting the variety of colors on a cow. Later the meaning shifted to "things".

Components

牛
牛 Meaning component
niú cow
勿
勿 Sound component
wù, mò must not

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjutC.mut thing

說文解字

《說文》：“物，萬物也。牛為大物，天地之數，起於牽牛，故从牛，勿聲。”

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)

廢 fèi discard, abandon Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 發 represents the sound.

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
發
發 Sound component
fā, fa, fà send out

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjojH[p-k]ap-s cast aside
pjojHpat-s great

說文解字

《說文》：“廢，屋頓也。从广，發聲。”

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)

棄 qì abandon Traditional

Pictograph of two hands (廾) putting a child (𠫓) in a basket (其) for the purpose of abandoning or disposing with it.

Components

𠫓
𠫓 Iconic component
tū, yù newborn

Upside-down form of 子 (child).

其
其 Iconic component
qí its, his, (3p possessive)

Depicts a basket.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 其 than it was in ancient scripts.
廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 廾 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhjijH[kʰ]i[t]-s throw away, abandon

說文解字

《說文》：“棄，捐也。从廾推棄之，从，，逆子也。弃，古文棄。”

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)