蒸馏
zhēng​liú

distill

蒸 zhēng steam

Steam 烝 provides the meaning and sound

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
烝
烝 Meaning component
zhēng rise

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyingtəŋtwigs as firewood
Zhengzhangkljɯŋ
Unicodejiəng
jiɛng

說文解字

折麻中榦也。从艸烝聲。

Sources

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

馏 liù, liú distill Simplified

Distilled 留 wine 饣; 留 also provides the pronunciation

Components

饣
饣 Meaning component
shí eat
留
留 SoundMeaning component
liú to stay

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

餾 distill Traditional

Distilled 留 wine 飠; 留 also provides the pronunciation

Components

飠
飠 Meaning component
eat
留
留 SoundMeaning component
liú to stay

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangm·ru
m·rus

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica