衣不蔽体
yī​bù​bì​tǐ

destitute

衣 yī clothes

Pictograph of a shirt or coat.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (17 of 34 verified)

表装裁袭袋裂衷裹裳裘襄裴亵袅褒袤裟袈衮衾褰雜襞製裒裝裏袞襲褱扆褻𧝑裊

Iconic (6)

劳衰袁卒𲀭勞

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

依哀裔铱扆

Remnant (3)

劳勞奮

Unknown (1)

奮

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'j+jʔ(r)əj clothes
'j+jHʔ(r)əj-s wear (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“衣，依也。上曰衣，下曰裳。象覆二人之形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.663
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

不 bù, bu no

Original meaning: sepals

Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

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
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

否杯钚罘盃

Simplified (4)

还环怀坏

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

否歪甭孬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwpə not
pjuwpə 不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn)

說文解字

《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

蔽 bì cover

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 敝 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

敝
敝 Sound component
bì worn out

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjiejHpe[t]-scover (v.)
Zhengzhangpeds
Unicodebiɛ̀i

說文解字

蔽蔽，小艸也。从艸敝聲。

Sources

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

体 tǐ body Simplified

Simplified form of 體. The foundation (本) of a person (亻) is their body (体).

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

本
本 Meaning component
běn root

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangbɯːnʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

體 tǐ body Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 骨 represents the meaning and 豊 represents the sound.

Components

骨
骨 Meaning component
gǔ, gú bone
豊
豊 Sound component
lǐ, fēng abundant
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartthejXr̥ˤijʔ body; limbs

說文解字

《說文》：“體，總十二屬也。从骨，豊聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)