弓臂
gōng​bì

bow limb

弓 gōng bow

Pictograph of a bow for shooting arrows.

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (12 of 21 verified)

强张弹弯弥弦彦弧弛弩彌弳彊弪弮彈彆彎張強彥

Iconic (5)

引射隽雋發

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

弘躬穹芎

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjuwngkʷəŋ bow (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“弓，以近窮遠。象形。”

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)

臂 bì, bei arm

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 辟 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

辟
辟 Sound component
pì, bì law

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjieHpek-sarm
Zhengzhangpeɡs
Unicodebiɛ̀

說文解字

手上也。从肉辟聲。

Sources

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