直男癌
zhí​nán'ái

male chauvinism

直 zhí straight

Pictograph of a straight line coming from the eye, to depict looking straight at something. The purpose of the stroke at the bottom is unclear.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a straight line

目
目 Iconic component
mù eye
◎
◎ Unknown component
characterless component

The purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (5 of 7 verified)

值置植殖埴稙惪

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

矗惪

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdrikN-t<r>ək straight

說文解字

《說文》：“直，正見也。从，从十，从目。，古文直。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.870
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

男 nán male

Traditionally males (男) were the people who plowed (力) the fields (田).

Components

田
田 Meaning component
tián field
力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Depicts a plow.

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
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 4 verified)

舅甥嬲虜

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnomnˤ[ə]m man, male

說文解字

《說文》：“男，丈夫也。从田，从力，言男用力於田也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.918-919
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

癌 ái cancer

Phonosemantic compound. 疒 represents the meaning and 嵒 represents the sound.

Components

疒
疒 Meaning component
nè sick
嵒
嵒 Sound component
yán, niè cliff

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode