泪珠
lèi​zhū

teardrop

泪 lèi tears Simplified

Simplified form of 淚. Depicts drops of water (氵) coming from the eye (目).

Components

氵
氵 Iconic component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

目
目 Iconic component
mù eye

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Sources

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

珠 zhū precious stone

Phonosemantic compound. 王 represents the meaning and 朱 represents the sound.

Components

王
王 Meaning component
wáng king
朱
朱 Sound component
zhū, shū red pigment

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangtjo
Unicodejio

說文解字

蚌之陰精。从玉朱聲。《春秋國語》曰：“珠以禦火灾”是也。

Sources

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

淚 lèi tears Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 戾 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

戾
戾 Sound component
lì bend, violate, transgress

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlwijH[r][ə]p-s tears (n.)

Sources

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