淫威
yín​wēi

tyranny

淫 yín obscene

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

霪

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

霪

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyimN.r[ə]mexcess; licentious
Zhengzhanglɯm

說文解字

侵淫隨理也。从水㸒聲。一曰久雨爲淫。

Sources

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

威 wēi power

Depicts a weapon (戌) used to force a woman (女) into submission.

Components

戌
戌 Iconic component
xū, qu 11th terrestrial branch

Depicts an axe.

女
女 Iconic component
nǚ, nü woman

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

崴葳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jw+jʔuj awe-inspiring

說文解字

《說文》：“威，姑也。从女，从戌。《漢律》曰：‘婦告威姑。’”

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)