錯
cuòcù HSK1

error

Original meaning: grind stone

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 昔 represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "grind stone", which later shifted to "mix", "be in disorder", and "wrong".

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
昔
昔 Sound component
xī, cuò in the past, ancient times
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshak[tsʰ]ˤak slanting

說文解字

《說文》：“錯，金涂也。从金，昔聲。”

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)

错 cuò error Simplified

Simplified form of 錯. Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 昔 represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "grind stone", which later shifted to "mix", "be in disorder", and "wrong".

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

昔
昔 Sound component
xī, cuò in the past, ancient times
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode