晚礼服
wǎn​lǐ​fú

evening dress

晚 wǎn night

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 免 represents the sound.

Components

日
日 Meaning component
rì sun
免
免 Sound component
miǎn (hat), avoid
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjonXm[o][r]ʔ late

說文解字

《說文》：“晚，莫也。从日，免聲。”

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)

礼 lǐ social custom Simplified

Simplified form of 禮. Phonosemantic compound. 礻 represents the meaning and 豊 represents the sound.

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show

礻 is a component form of 示.

乚
乚 Simplified component
yǐn, yà turning stroke

Shorthand for the 豊 component in the traditional character 禮.

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangriːʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

服 fú, fu clothes

Original meaning: submit, serve

Combination of 凡 (plate) and subdue (𠬝). Based on the original meaning "serve" or "submit". 凡 alludes to serving a plate.

Components

凡
凡 Meaning component
fán all

Depicts a plate.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 凡 than it was in ancient scripts.
𠬝
𠬝 SoundMeaning component
fú subdue

Depicts a kneeling person being subdued.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Eastern Han 25-220 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

菔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjuwk[b]ək quiver (n.)
bjuwk[b]ək garment; wear (v.)
bjuwk[b]ək subdue, submit
bjuwX[b]əʔ box of a carriage

說文解字

《說文》：“服，用也。一曰車右騑，所以舟旋。从舟，聲。，古文服，从人。”

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)

禮 lǐ gift Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 礻 represents the meaning and 豊 represents the sound. Originally written as 豊.

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show

礻 is a component form of 示.

豊
豊 SoundMeaning component
lǐ, fēng abundant

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlejX[r]ˤijʔ propriety, ceremony

說文解字

《說文》：“禮，履也，所以事神致福也。从示、从豊，豊亦聲。，古文禮。”

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)