钳制
qián​zhì

suppress

钳 qián pincers Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 甘 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鉗.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

甘
甘 Sound component
gān sweetness

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

制 zhì control

Original meaning: break

Depicts cutting down a tree (未) with a knife (刂). Based on the original meaning "break". The meaning later shifted to "control".

Components

未
未 Iconic component
wèi not yet

Depicts a tree.

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

刂 is a component form of 刀.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

掣製

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyejHtet-s cut out, prepare

說文解字

《說文》：“制，裁也。从刀，从未。未，物成，有滋味，可裁斷。一曰止也。，古文制如此。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.357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)

鉗 qián pincers Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 甘 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal

釒 is a component form of 金.

甘
甘 Sound component
gān sweetness

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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-SagartgjemC.[ɡ]<r>[e]mpincers, tongs
Zhengzhangɡram

說文解字

以𨮯有所劫束也。从金甘聲。

Sources

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