歪瓜劣枣
wāi​guā​liè​zǎo

ugly

歪 wāi slant

Not 不 straight 正

Components

不
不 Meaning component
bù, bu no
正
正 Meaning component
zhèng, zheng, zhēng correct

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangqʰʷraːl

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

瓜 guā melon

Depicts a melon hanging from a vine.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

孤狐弧呱胍觚

Meaning (1 of 6 verified)

瓣瓢瓤瓠瓞㼌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwaekʷˤra melon, gourd

說文解字

《說文》：“瓜，也。象形。”

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)

劣 liè bad

Phonosemantic compound. 少 represents the meaning and 力 represents the sound.

Components

少
少 Meaning component
shǎo, shao, shào few
力
力 Sound component
lì, li power

Character Evolution

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

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangrod
Unicodeliuɛt

說文解字

弱也。从力少聲。

Sources

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

枣 zǎo date tree Simplified

Simplified form of 棗. Pictograph of a date tree.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

棗 zǎo date tree Traditional

Pictograph of two thorns.

Components

朿
朿 Iconic component
cì thorn, stab
朿
朿 Iconic component
cì thorn, stab

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

早

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsawX[ts]ˤuʔ jujube

說文解字

《說文》：“棗，羊棗也。从重朿。”

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)