穷寇
qióng​kòu

cornered enemy

穷 qióng poor Simplified

Simplified form of 窮. Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 躬 represents the sound.

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
力
力 Simplified component
lì, li power

Shorthand for the 躬 component in the traditional character 窮.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

寇 kòu bandits

Original meaning: to commit violence

Depicts a hand holding a weapon (攴) attacking a person (元) inside a building (宀). Based on the original meaning, "to commit violence". The meaning later shifted to "invade", "enemy" and "bandits".

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
元
元 Iconic component
yuán first

Depicts a person.

攴
攴 Iconic component
pū tap

Depicts a hand holding a weapon.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

蔻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhuwH[k]ʰˤ(r)o-s rob; robber

說文解字

《說文》：“寇，暴也。从攴，完。”

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)

窮 qióng poor Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 躬 represents the sound.

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
躬
躬 Sound component
gōng body

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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

藭

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgjuwng[g](r)uŋ poor
gjuwngm-[g](r)uŋ exhaust

說文解字

《說文》：“竆，極也。从穴，躳聲。”

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)