zuì​kuí

ringleader

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

kuí, kuǐ, kuài chief

Components

Sound component
guǐ ghost
Meaning component
dòu ladle

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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhwoj[kʰ]ˤuj great; principal; chief
khwoj[kʰ]ˤuj spoon
khwoj[kʰ]ˤuj mound

說文解字

《說文》:“魁,羹斗也,从斗。鬼聲。”

Sources

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