Original meaning: finish eating
Depicts a person, who is full, turning away (旡) from a container of food (皀). Based on the original meaning "finish eating". The meaning later shifted to "complete" and "already".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kj+jH | [k]ə[t]-s | complete (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“旣，小食也。从皀，旡聲。《論語》曰：‘不使勝食旣。’”
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)
Original meaning: city
Depicts defending city walls (丁) with an axe (戌). 丁 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "city", now written as 城. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Depicts city walls.
Change in sound
Change in form
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzyeng | [d]eŋ | to become (v.i.) |
| dzyeng | m-[d]eŋ | to complete (tr. v) |
說文解字
《說文》：“成，就也。从戊，丁聲。，古文成从午。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.963-964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)
The characters 史 (history), 吏 (government official), 使 (cause; use; instruct), and 事 (matter; work; affair) are all etymologically related and all derive from the same ancient character, depicting a hand (又) holding a container for writing utensils. 事 and 史 were originally written the same, but later an extra mark was added to distinguish them.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzriH | [m-s-]rəʔ-s | serve; service, affair |
說文解字
《說文》：“事，職也。从史，之省聲。，古文事。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.214
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Original meaning: rich; plentiful
Simplified form of 實. Depicts a string of money (貫) under a roof (宀). Based on the original meaning "rich; plentiful". The meaning later expanded to "solid", "fruit", and "true". The 貫 component was changed to 头 for simplification.
Components
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
Traditional
Original meaning: rich; plentiful
Depicts a string of money (貫) under a roof (宀). Based on the original meaning "rich; plentiful". The meaning later expanded to "solid", "fruit", and "true".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | zyit | mə.li[t] | fruit; full |
說文解字
《說文》：“實，富也。从宀，从貫。貫，貨貝也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.593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)