mén​chǐ

incisor

mén, men door Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a gate.

Component uses

Sound (3 of 10 verified)

Iconic (5)

Simplified (1)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

齿 chǐ teeth Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a mouth full of teeth. The sound component was added later.

Components

Sound component
zhǐ (foot), stop
𠚕
chǐ teeth

Depicts a mouth full of teeth.

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 12 verified)

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.139
Readings & variants
Unicode

mén, men door Traditional

Original meaning: outer door

Pictograph of a gate.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

Iconic (5)

Deleted (2)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmwonmˤə[r] gate, door

說文解字

《說文》:“門,聞也。从二戶,象形。”

Sources

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

chǐ teeth Traditional

Pictograph of a mouth full of teeth. The sound component was added later.

Components

Sound component
zhǐ (foot), stop
𠚕
𠚕 Iconic component
chǐ teeth

Depicts a mouth full of teeth.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyhiXt-[k]ʰə(ŋ)ʔ (or *t.ŋ̊əʔ)front teeth

說文解字

《說文》:“齒,口齗骨也。象口齒之形。止聲。,古文齒字。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.139
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica