jiān​xǐ

wash away

jiān, zàn, zhǎn wash

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

water

Sound component
qián in front

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangʔslen
ʔslens
ʔsleːn
zleːn

說文解字

水。出蜀郡緜虒玉壘山,東南入江。从水前聲。一曰手𤃬之。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

wash

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

Sound component
xiān first
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsejX[s]ˤərʔ wash
senXsˤərʔ wash

說文解字

《說文》:“洗,洒足也。从水,先聲。”

Sources

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