Dǒng Zhuó

Dong Zhuo

dǒng, zhǒng supervise

Original meaning: type of plant

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

is a component form of .

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "type of plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
zhòng, chóng heavy

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal 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)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangtoːŋʔ
Unicodedǔng

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zhuó, zhuō profound

Original meaning: tall

Pictograph of a person standing erect with something above the head, based on the original meaning "tall". The meaning later shifted to "outstanding" and "profound".

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 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 (3 of 11 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttraewktˤrawk high; splendid

說文解字

《說文》:“,高也。早匕為,匕卪為卬,皆同義。卓,古文。”

Sources

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