离心机
lí​xīn​jī

centrifuge

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)

心 xīn, xin heart

Pictograph of a human's heart.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 Qin 221-206 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 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (41 of 94 verified)

想意应感思怎念态志愿急您恶恩恐忽忘忍怒悲患愈忠悉恋慈慧惠惑慰怨惩闷悬愚忌悠愁恳惹恕芯惫怠憋忒忿怂憨恙恿恚恣忐忑懋憩懑怼恁愆愍戆悫慝恧憝恝悶忞懸慾㥯惡慼態憂憑應懣恥懇寍戇戀慶慫惪愛憊懲憲愬懟

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

芯沁吣

Simplified (2)

应虑

Iconic (2)

怱悤

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsimsəm heart

說文解字

《說文》：“心，人心。土藏，在身之中。象形。博士說以為火藏。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.787
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

机 jī machine Simplified

Simplified form of 機. Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 几 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
几
几 SoundSimplified component
jǐ, jī small table

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkijXkrəjʔ small table, stool

說文解字

《說文》：“机，木也。从木，几聲。”

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)

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)

機 jī machine Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 幾 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
幾
幾 Sound component
jǐ how much

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 (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkj+jkəj mechanism

說文解字

《說文》：“機，主發謂之機。从木，幾聲。”

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)