电离室
diàn​lí​shì

ionization chamber

电 diàn electricity Simplified

Original meaning: lightning

Simplified form of 電, which depicts lightning (申) during a rainstorm (雨). The 雨 component was deleted for simplification.

Components

電
雨 Deleted component
yǔ rain
申
申 SoundIconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants
Unicode

离 lí leave Simplified

Depicts using a net (𠦒) to catch prey in a forest (林). 林 also represents the sound. In simplified Chinese 离 is also used to mean "leave", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 離.

Components

林
林 SoundIconic component
lín forest
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 林 than it was in ancient scripts.
𠦒
𠦒 Iconic component
bān net for catching birds or rabbits

Depicts a net. Similar to 禽.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 10 verified)

璃篱漓魑螭缡蓠褵縭樆

Meaning (1)

魑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttrhjer̥aj mountain demon

說文解字

《說文》：“离，山神獸也。从禽頭，从厹，从屮。歐陽喬說：‘离，猛獸也。’”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.954林志強《《文源》評注》p.7漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.1268-1269陳靖《兩周古文字編注》p.2182
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

室 shì room

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 至 represents the sound.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
至
至 Sound component
zhì reach

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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

Meaning (2)

屋臺

Remnant (1)

屋

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyits.ti[t] chamber; house

說文解字

《說文》：“室，實也。从宀，从至。至，所止也。”

Sources

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

電 diàn electricity Traditional

Original meaning: lightning

Depicts lightning (申) during a rainstorm (雨).

Components

雨
雨 Meaning component
yǔ rain
申
申 SoundIconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdenHlˤi[n]-s lightning

說文解字

《說文》：“電，陰陽激燿也。从雨，从申。，古文電。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

離 lí leave Traditional

Original meaning: catch a bird

Depicts a bird (隹) being caught in a bird trap (罕). Based on the original meaning "catch a bird". The meaning later shifted to "reject", "separate", and "leave".

Components

罕
罕 Iconic component
hǎn, hàn rare

Depicts a bird trap.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 罕 than it was in ancient scripts.
隹
隹 Iconic component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

籬蘺

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlje[r]aj meet with, encounter
lje[r]aj depart from
ljeHraj-s reject

說文解字

《說文》：“離，離黃，倉庚也。鳴則蠶生。从隹，离聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.954
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)