甲基苯丙胺 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

jiǎjīběnbǐng'àn

methamphetamine

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

▼ More ▲ Less

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)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kaep	[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)

jī foundation

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound.

Components

其 Sound component

qí its, his, (3p possessive)

土 Meaning component

tǔ earth

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

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

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ki	k(r)ə	base (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“基，牆始也。从土，其聲。”

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)

běn benzene

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 本 represents the sound.

Components

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

本 Sound component

běn root

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	pɯːnʔ

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang

bǐng third

Original meaning: pedestal

Depicts a platform to put things on. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

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 Late Shang ~1100 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Warring States 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

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

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (5 of 8 verified)

两更病柄炳邊邴兩

Unknown (1 of 2 verified)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pjaengX	praŋʔ	3d heavenly stem

說文解字

《說文》：“丙，位南方，萬物成炳然。陰气初起，陽气將虧，从一入冂。一者，陽也。丙承乙，象人肩。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.961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)

àn, è amine

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 安 represents the sound.

Components

⺼ Meaning component

ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

安 Sound component

ān peaceful

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	qaːd

Sources

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