欲盖弥彰
yù​gài​mí​zhāng

conspicuous cover-up

欲 yù desire

Phonosemantic compound. 欠, depicting a person with an open mouth, represents the meaning, while 谷 represents the sound.

Components

欠
欠 Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Depicts a person with an open mouth.

谷
谷 Sound component
gǔ valley, ravine

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

慾

Meaning (1)

慾

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyowkɢ(r)ok desire (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“欲，貪欲也。从欠，谷聲。”

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)

盖 gài, gai cover Simplified

Simplified form of 蓋. Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 盍 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 MeaningSimplified component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

盍
盍 SoundSimplified component
hé what? why not?

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkaːbs

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

弥 mí extensive Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 弓 represents the meaning and 尔 represents the sound. Simplified form of 彌.

Components

弓
弓 Meaning component
gōng bow
尔
尔 Sound component
ěr you

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

猕

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmnel

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

彰 zhāng clear

Phonosemantic compound. 彡 represents the meaning and 章 represents the sound.

Components

彡
彡 Meaning component
shān, xiǎn hair
章
章 Sound component
zhāng chapter, seal

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkjaŋ

說文解字

文彰也。从彡从章，章亦聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

蓋 gài, gai cover Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 盍 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

盍
盍 Sound component
hé what? why not?

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
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 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-SagartkajH[k]ˤap-s cover (v.); cover (n.)
hapm-[k]ˤap thatch, cover (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“葢，苫也。从艸，盇聲。”

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)

彌 mí extensive Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 弓 represents the meaning and 爾 represents the sound.

Components

弓
弓 Meaning component
gōng bow
爾
爾 Sound component
ěr you

Character Evolution

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 Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 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)

瀰

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

瀰

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjiem-nə[r]to complete
mjieXm-nə[r]ʔstop
Zhengzhangmnel
Unicodemiɛ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica