把脉
bǎ​mài

feel pulse

把 bǎ hold

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 巴 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

巴
巴 Sound component
ba, bā to wish

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

筢

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpaeXpˤraʔ grasp (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“把，握也。从手，把聲。”

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)

脉 mài blood vessels Simplified

Simplified form and variant of 脈. The blood vessels is the part of the body (⺼) where blood flows (永).

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

永
永 Meaning component
yǒng long

Used here to allude to flowing blood in the blood vessels.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

霡

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmeakC.mˤ<r>[i]k vein

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.1019
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

脈 mài blood vessels Traditional

The blood vessels is the part of the body (⺼) where blood flows (𠂢).

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

𠂢
𠂢 SoundMeaning component
pài river branching

Used here to allude to flowing blood in the blood vessels. 𠂢 also represents the sound.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 (0 of 1 verified)

霢

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmeakC.mˤ<r>[i]k vein

說文解字

《說文》：“，血理分衺行體者，从从血。脈，或从肉。衇，籀文。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.1019
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)