甲乙
jiǎ​yǐ

first and second

甲 jiǎ, jia 1st heavenly stem, fingernail

Origin unclear. Possibly depicts cracks on a shell or tree bark.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 14 verified)

押鸭匣闸奄钾呷岬胛狎柙鉀鴨閘

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

厣

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkaep[k]ˤr[a]p 1st heavenly stem; fingernail

說文解字

《說文》：“甲，東方之孟，陽气萌動。从木戴孚甲之象。一曰人頭宜為甲，甲象人頭。，古文甲，始於十，見於千，成於木之象。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.957-958李学勤《字源》p.1270-1271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)

乙 yǐ second

Depicts a stream of water.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

艺亿忆虱钇穵

Distinguishing (1)

乾

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

氹

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'itqrət 2nd heavenly stem

說文解字

《說文》：“乙，象春艸木冤曲而出，陰氣尚彊，其出乙乙也。與丨同意，乙承甲，象人頸。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.959
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)