耑
duānzhuān HSK6

tip, start, extremity

Pictograph of the roots and leaves of a plant, i.e. the extremities of a plant.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 10 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttwantˤor tip (n.)

說文解字

《說文》:“耑,物初生之題也。上象生形,下象其根也。”

Sources

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

端 duān end, hold with both hands Simplified

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

专 zhuān monopolize Simplified

Original meaning: turn

Depicts a hand (寸) spinning a wheel (叀). Based on the original meaning "turn", now written as 轉. The current meaning is a phonetic loan. The simplified character 专 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 專.

Components

叀
zhuān, huì spinning wheel
寸
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Depicts a hand.

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

Meaning (1)

Sources

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