端粒酶
duān​lì​méi

telomerase

端 duān end, hold with both hands

Phonosemantic compound. 立 represents the meaning and 耑 represents the sound.

Components

立
立 Meaning component
lì stand
耑
耑 Sound component
duān, zhuān tip, start, extremity

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttwantˤor tip (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“端，直也。从立，耑聲。”

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)

粒 lì grain

Phonosemantic compound. 米 represents the meaning and 立 represents the sound.

Components

米
米 Meaning component
mǐ rice
立
立 Sound component
lì stand

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlipp.rəpgrains of rice
Zhengzhangrɯb
Unicodelip

說文解字

糂也。从米立聲。

Sources

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

酶 méi enzymes

Phonosemantic compound. 酉 represents the meaning and 每 represents the sound.

Components

酉
酉 Meaning component
yǒu wine
每
每 Sound component
měi every

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmɯː

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang