zuì'è HSK6

evil

zuì, zui crime

Original meaning: fishing net

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "fishing net". The current meaning, originally written , is a phonetic loan.

Components

Meaning component
wǎng net
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "fishing net", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
fēi not

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzwojX[dz]ˤujʔ crime, offense

說文解字

《說文》:“罪,捕魚竹网。从网、非。秦以罪為辠字。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

è, wù evil Simplified

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

Components

Sound component
Asia, sub-
Change in sound
Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Component uses

Sound (1)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

è, wù evil Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
Asia, sub-
Change in sound
Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'akʔˤak bad, ugly
'uHʔˤak-s hate (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“惡,過也。从心,亞聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica