粗制滥造
cū​zhì​làn​zào

shoddy

粗 cū rough, coarse

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

Components

米
米 Meaning component
mǐ rice
且
且 Sound component
qiě moreover
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttshuNə-s.r̥ˤa coarse, thick (as hair)

說文解字

《說文》：“粗，疏也。从米，且聲。”

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)

制 zhì control Simplified

Original meaning: break

Depicts cutting down a tree (未) with a knife (刂). Based on the original meaning "break". The meaning later shifted to "control".

Components

未
未 Iconic component
wèi not yet

Depicts a tree.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 未 than it was in ancient scripts.
刂
刂 Iconic component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

掣製

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyejHtet-s cut out, prepare

說文解字

《說文》：“制，裁也。从刀，从未。未，物成，有滋味，可裁斷。一曰止也。，古文制如此。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.357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)

滥 làn flood Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 监 represents the sound. Simplified form of 濫.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

监
监 Sound component
jiān watch carefully

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

造 zào construct

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 告 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

告
告 Sound component
gào tell

Originally this component was a pictograph of grass, similar to 艸, but later was reanalyzed as the visually similar 告.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
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 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

糙簉

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzawX[dzˤ]uʔ make
tshawH(mə-)tsʰˤuʔ-s go to

說文解字

就也。从辵告聲。譚長說：造，上士也。

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)

製 manufacture Traditional

Original meaning: to cut

Phonosemantic compound. 衣 represents the meaning and 制 represents the sound.

Components

制
制 Sound component
zhì control
衣
衣 Meaning component
yī clothes

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyejHtet-s cut out (a garment)

說文解字

《說文》：“製，裁也。从衣，从制。”

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)

濫 làn flood Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 監 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

監
監 Sound component
jiān watch carefully

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡ·raːms
ɡraːmʔ

說文解字

氾也。从水監聲。一曰濡上及下也。《詩》曰：“𧥑沸濫泉。”一曰清也。

Sources

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