祭祀
jì​sì HSK7

sacrifice

祭 jì, zhài sacrifice to

Depicts a hand (又) offering meat (⺼) as a sacrifice. 示 is a meaning component commonly used in spiritual-related characters.

Components

⺼
⺼ Iconic component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉. Depicts sacrificial meat.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand offering meat as a sacrifice.

示
示 Meaning component
shì show

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

察傺際瘵縩

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsjejH[ts]et-s sacrifice
tsreajH[ts](ˤ)re[t]-s (name of a state)

說文解字

《說文》：“祭，祭祀也。从示，以手持肉。”

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)

祀 sì to sacrifice

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show

spirit

巳
巳 Sound component
sì, yǐ 6th terrestrial branch

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Mid Western Zhou ~900 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartziXs-[ɢ]əʔsacrifice; year
Zhengzhangljɯʔ
Unicodeziə̌

說文解字

祭無已也。从示巳聲。

Sources

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