恶凶凶
è​xiōng​xiōng

fierce

恶 è, wù evil Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 亚 represents the sound. Simplified form of 惡.

Components

亚
亚 Sound component
yà Asia, sub-
Change in sound
心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Component uses

Sound (1)

𫫇

Meaning (1)

𫫇

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

凶 xiōng vicious, fierce Simplified

Pictograph of a trap in the ground.

Character Evolution

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 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

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

匈汹垴兇

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

酗

Iconic (1)

兇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjowngqʰ(r)oŋ unlucky

說文解字

《說文》：“凶，惡也。象地穿交陷其中也。”

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)

惡 è, wù evil Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 亞 represents the sound.

Components

亞
亞 Sound component
yà Asia, sub-
Change in sound
心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Character Evolution

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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

噁

Meaning (1)

噁

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'akʔˤak bad, ugly
'uHʔˤak-s hate (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“惡，過也。从心，亞聲。”

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)

兇 xiōng terrible, fearful Traditional

Depicts a person (卩) under a trap (凶).

Components

凶
凶 SoundIconic component
xiōng vicious, fierce

Depicts a trap.

卩
卩 Meaning component
jié person kneeling

Depicts a person under a trap.

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

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangqʰoŋ
qʰoŋʔ

說文解字

《說文》：“兇，擾恐也，从人在凶下。”

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)