辞别
cí​bié

bid farewell

辞 cí words Simplified

Simplified form of 辭. Alludes to a governance (𤔔) dispute related to criminal law (辛). Based on the original meaning "litigation". The meaning later shifted to "words".

Components

舌
舌 Simplified component
shé tongue

Shorthand for the 𤔔 component in the traditional character 亂.

辛
辛 Meaning component
xīn laborious

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.1277
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica

别 bié, biè separate Simplified

Simplified form of 別. Depicts a knife (刂) cutting meat off of a bone (另).

Components

另
另 Iconic component
lìng (bones), another

Depicts a bone.

刂
刂 Iconic component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

捌

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

捌

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpred
bred

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

辭 cí words Traditional

Original meaning: litigation

Alludes to a governance (𤔔) dispute related to criminal law (辛). Based on the original meaning "litigation". The meaning later shifted to "words".

Components

𤔔
𤔔 Meaning component
luàn (untangle threads), to govern
辛
辛 Meaning component
xīn laborious

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-Sagartzisə.lə words

說文解字

《說文》：“辭，訟也。从，猶理辜也。，理也。，籀文辭从司。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.1277
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

別 bié, biè separate Traditional

Depicts a knife (刂) cutting meat off of a bone （冎）.

Components

冎
冎 Iconic component
guǎ bone
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 冎 than it was in ancient scripts.
刂
刂 Iconic component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjetN-pret be separated (intr.)
pjetpret separate (tr.)

說文解字

《說文》：“，分解也。从冎，从刀。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.336
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)