规
guī HSK3

rules

Original meaning: compass; a kind of drawing tool

Simplified form of 規. Depicts a kind of drawing tool for drawing circles with. The 见 (see) component was later added to suggest watching something being drawn. Based on the original meaning "compass; a kind of drawing tool", now written as 椝. The meaning has shifted over time and now means "rules".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a compass or a kind of drawing tool. Modern form looks like unrelated 夫.

见
见 Meaning component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

規 guī rules Traditional

Original meaning: compass; a kind of drawing tool

Depicts a kind of drawing tool for drawing circles with. The 見 (see) component was later added to suggest watching something being drawn. Based on the original meaning "compass; a kind of drawing tool", now written as 槼. The meaning has shifted over time and now means "rules".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a compass or a kind of drawing tool. Modern form looks like unrelated 夫.

見
見 Meaning component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjwiekʷe compass, circle

說文解字

《說文》:“規,有法度也。从夫,从見。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica