龋齿
qǔ​chǐ

caries

龋 qǔ tooth decay Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 齿 represents the meaning and 禹 represents the sound. Simplified form of 齲.

Components

齿
齿 Meaning component
chǐ teeth
禹
禹 Sound component
yǔ insect; proper name

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

齿 chǐ teeth Simplified

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

Components

止
止 Sound component
zhǐ (foot), stop
𠚕
𠚕 IconicSimplified component
chǐ teeth

Depicts a mouth full of teeth.

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 12 verified)

龄龋龈啮龌龇龅龉龃龆龀𱌮

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

啮龊

Sources

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

齲 tooth decay Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 齒 represents the meaning and 禹 represents the sound.

Components

齒
齒 Meaning component
chǐ teeth
禹
禹 Sound component
yǔ insect; proper name

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkʰʷaʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

齒 chǐ teeth Traditional

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

Components

止
止 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

Meaning (3 of 15 verified)

齡齮齧齣齦齲齜齵齟齶齱嚙齙齷齬

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

齪嚙

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
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)