窈窕
yǎo​tiǎo

graceful

窈 yǎo, yào obscure

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave

cave

幼
幼 Sound component
yòu young, infant

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartʔewXʔˤ[e]wʔʔewX-dewX hidden; deep
Zhengzhangqiːwʔ
Unicodeqěu

說文解字

深遠也。从穴幼聲。

Sources

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

窕 tiǎo, tiāo slender

Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 兆 represents the sound.

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
兆
兆 Sound component
zhào omen

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdewXlˤ[e]wʔ窈窕 beautiful
Zhengzhangl'eːwʔ
Unicodedhěu

說文解字

深肆極也。从穴兆聲。讀若挑。

Sources

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