dào​qiè HSK7

steal

dào rob Simplified

Simplified form of . Depicts a gluttonous person drooling () for food inside of a dish (). The meaning later shifted to "steal", "rob", and "bandit".

Components

IconicRemnant component
xián spit, saliva

Depicts saliva () coming from a person with an open mouth (). Modern form looks like .

Iconic component
mǐn, mǐng dish

Depicts a dish with food in it.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

qiè secretly Simplified

Original meaning: to steal rice

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to steal rice". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "secretly". Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
xué, jué cave
Sound component
qiè, qiē cut

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

dào rob Traditional

Depicts a gluttonous person drooling () for food inside of a dish (). The meaning later shifted to "steal", "rob", and "bandit".

Components

Iconic component
xián spit, saliva

Depicts saliva () coming from a person with an open mouth ().

Iconic component
mǐn, mǐng dish

Depicts a dish with food in it.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdawH[d]ˤaw(k)-s steal

說文解字

《說文》:“盜,私利物也。从,欲皿者。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

qiè secretly Traditional

Original meaning: to steal rice

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to steal rice". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "secretly".

Components

Meaning component
xué, jué cave
SoundMeaning component
unpolished rice

Character Evolution

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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshet[tsʰ]ˤet steal

說文解字

《說文》:“竊,盜自中出曰竊。从穴、从米,、廿皆聲。廿,古文疾;,古文偰。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.648季旭昇《說文新證》p.580-581
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica