bǐ​zàn

thumbs-up

to compare

Two spoons side-by-side, conveying the meaning "to put together", "match", or "compare". also represents the sound.

Components

SoundIconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a spoon.

SoundIconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a spoon.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 21 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjijXC.pijʔ compare
pjijHpij-s combine; all

說文解字

《說文》:“比,密也。二人為从,反从為比。夶,古文比。”

Sources

Character origin
尤梓竹《甲骨文字考釋提要(一)》p.56李学勤《字源》p.725
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zàn praise, support Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Sound component
shēn go forward
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Shells () were used as currency in ancient China. Used here to depict financial support.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

zàn praise, support Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
shēn go forward
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Shells () were used as currency in ancient China. Used here to depict financial support.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 4 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsanHtsˤarʔ-s assist

說文解字

《說文》:“贊,見也。从貝,从兟。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica