得寸进尺 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

décùnjìnchǐ

insatiable

de, dé, děi obtain

Depicts a hand (寸) grabbing a shell (貝), used as currency in ancient China, to convey the meaning "get". Originally written as 㝵. The 彳 (movement) component was added later.

Components

彳 Meaning component

chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

貝 Iconic component

bèi sea shell

Change in form

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

寸 Iconic component

cùn, cun (hand), inch

Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Qin 221-206 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 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

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tok	tˤək	obtain

說文解字

《說文》：“得，行有所得也。从彳，聲。，古文省彳。”

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)

cùn, cun (hand), inch

Original meaning: pulse point on wrist

Pictograph of a hand with a line marking a spot on the wrist. In traditional Chinese medicine this spot on the wrist where the pulse can be taken is called the 寸口.

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Iconic (24)

对得将专射守付封尊夺耐冠辱尉肘虢將寽㝵尃對奪尌專 show all 24 show fewer

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

村尊忖纣酎紂吋

Meaning (5 of 6 verified)

导讨寺討導吋

Simplified (4)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tshwonH	[tsʰ]ˤu[n]-s	thumb; inch

說文解字

《說文》：“寸，十分也。人手卻一寸動，謂之寸口。从又，从一。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.233-234
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

jìn advance Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 井 represents the sound. Simplified form of 進.

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

井 Sound Simplified component

jǐng well

Simplified from 隹 in the traditional character 進.

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

chǐ traditional Chinese unit of length ~ 1 foot

Origin unclear. Possibly a pictograph of a side view of a person with a mark on their leg indicating the length of one foot.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Seal form — Seal Xin 9-23 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

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Simplified (1)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyhek	tʰAk	foot (measure)

說文解字

《說文》：“尺，十寸也。人手卻十分動脈為寸口。十寸為尺。尺，所以指尺榘事也。从尸，从乙，乙所識也。周制寸、尺、咫、尋、常、仞諸度量，皆以人之體為法。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫古今文字集成
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

jìn go forward Traditional

辶 represents the meaning and 隹 depicts a bird, which is unable to walk backwards.

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

隹 Iconic component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Used here because birds are not able to walk backwards.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsinH	[ts][i][n]-s	advance (v.)

說文解字

登也。从辵，閵省聲。

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)