畸形秀
jī​xíng​xiù

freak show

畸 jī, qí odd

Leftover 奇 farmland 田; 奇 also provides the pronunciation

Components

田
田 Meaning component
tián field
奇
奇 SoundMeaning component
qí strange

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkral

說文解字

殘田也。从田奇聲。

Sources

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

形 xíng, xing form, shape

Phonosemantic compound. 彡 represents the meaning and 井 represents the sound.

Components

井
井 Sound component
jǐng well
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 井 than it was in ancient scripts.
彡
彡 Meaning component
shān, xiǎn hair

Three lines depicting a shape

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartheng[ɢ]ˤeŋ form, shape

說文解字

《說文》：“形，象形也。从彡，幵聲。”

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)

秀 xiù elegant, excellent

Depicts a grain seedling (禾) pulled out (引) of the ground. The meaning later expanded to "bloom", "blossom", "elegant", and "excellent".

Components

禾
禾 Iconic component
hé grain stalk
引
引 IconicRemnant component
yǐn to pull

Modern form looks like 乃.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 引 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 7 verified)

透诱绣锈莠誘銹

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

诱誘

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjuwH[s-l]u(ʔ)-s to flower

說文解字

《說文》：“秀，上諱。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.632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)