纤
xiānqiàn HSK7

fine

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 千 represents the sound. Simplified form of 纖.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

千
千 Sound component
qiān thousand

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

纖 xiān fine Traditional

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

silk

韱
韱 Sound component
xiān wild onions or leeks

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsem
Unicodesiɛm

說文解字

細也。从糸韱聲。

Sources

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

縴 tow line Traditional

A thread 糹 used to pull 牽 boats; 牽 also provides the pronunciation

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk
牽
牽 SoundMeaning component
qiān drag

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkʰiːn

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang