Original meaning: intense pain from an illness
Depicts a person with a swollen abdomen (㐆) receiving an acupuncture from a hand holding a needle (殳). Based on the original meaning "intense pain from an illness". The meaning later shifted to "abundant" and "many" while it's other meaning used as the name of a dynasty at the end of the Shang dynasty is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'ean | ʔˤrə[r] | dark-red |
| 'j+n | ʔə[r] | 殷殷 distressed | |
| 'j+n | ʔə[r] | ample, many | |
| 'j+n | ʔər | (dynastic name) |
說文解字
《說文》：“殷，作樂之盛稱殷。从，从殳。《易》曰：‘殷薦之上帝。’”
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)
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)