旅行支票
lǚ​xíng​zhī​piào

traveler's check

旅 lǚ trip

Original meaning: army campaign

Depicts two soldiers marching beneath a flag. The original meaning was "army campaign", but later shifted to "travel".

Components

㫃
㫃 Iconic component
yǎn flags flying

Depicts a flag.

从
从 Iconic component
cóng, cōng from

Depicts two soldiers.

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

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~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
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

膂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartljoX[r]aʔ military unit of 500 men; to go

說文解字

《說文》：“旅，軍之五百人為旅。从，从从；从，俱也。，古文旅。古文以為魯、衛之魯。”

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)

行 xíng, háng walk

Depicts a street intersection.

Character Evolution

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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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

Meaning (7 of 12 verified)

卫街衙衢術衛鸻衖衝衕鴴衚

Sound (1 of 9 verified)

衡衔珩桁荇銜绗筕絎

Deleted (2)

术卫

Remnant (1)

彳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthang[g]ˤaŋ rank, row
haengCə.[g]ˤraŋ walk (v.)
haengH[g]ˤraŋ-s action

說文解字

《說文》：“行，人之步趨也。从彳，从亍。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.138
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

支 zhī support, hold up

Pictograph of a hand (又) lifting a piece of bamboo (个).

Components

个
个 Iconic component
gè, ge, gě [measure word]

Depicts a piece of bamboo.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 14 verified)

技枝翅歧肢妓吱岐庋屐芰豉忮跂

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

妓伎

Iconic (1)

鼓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyeke support, hold up
tsyeke branch (of tree), limb

說文解字

《說文》：“支，去竹之枝也。从手持半竹。，古文支。”

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)

票 piào slip of paper or bamboo

Original meaning: leaping flames

Phonosemantic compound. A remnant of 要 represents the sound and 火 represents the meaning. Based on the original meaning "leaping flames". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

要
要 SoundRemnant component
yào, yāo want
火
火 Iconic component
huǒ fire
Change in meaning
火 hints at the original meaning of 票, "leaping flames", which is no longer the most common meaning of 票 in modern Mandarin.
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 火 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 20 verified)

飘漂镖嫖瞟瓢剽缥膘嘌骠鳔螵鏢縹鰾瘭飄標摽

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartphjiewpʰew leaping flames (Shuōwén)

說文解字

《說文》：“，火飛也。从火、。與同意。”

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)