qiè​zéi

thief

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

zéi thief Simplified

Original meaning: to destroy

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

SoundRemnant component
rule
Meaning component
spear

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

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

zéi thief Traditional

Original meaning: to destroy

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
rule
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Meaning component
spear

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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-Sagartdzokk.dzˤək injure; murderer, bandit

說文解字

《說文》:“,敗也。从戈,則聲。”

Sources

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